The ACT's 2024-25 budget has been officially handed down.
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We've pored through the documents to bring you a breakdown of the figures and what they mean for you.
Health and education are amongst the largest expenditure pools in the upcoming year.
Here's who wins, and who loses, as a result of this year's spending.
![Police, nurses and rugby fans are among the winners of the coming financial year's ACT budget. Pictures by Keegan Carroll Police, nurses and rugby fans are among the winners of the coming financial year's ACT budget. Pictures by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XBxJDq6WLub2UphQ8wEq23/45d45644-e639-4e43-a778-17e2ab21b236.png/r0_0_1200_675_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Police, nurses and rugby fans are among the winners of the coming financial year's ACT budget. Pictures by Keegan Carroll
Winners
- Apprentices and trainees will receive a one-off $250 payment from the government to support them amid cost-of-living pressures.
- Renters will have access to an expanded relief fund if they experience financial hardship while in the private rental market.
- Nurses will have more employment options as the government expands its healthcare workforce across two public hospitals.
- Police will receive pay increases as part of enterprise bargaining negotiations.
- Rugby fans get to see the ACT Brumbies take on the British and Irish Lions in Canberra next year. There were fears the once-every-12-years tour would bypass the capital due to a lack of government support. But the game has been locked in and the Brumbies are hoping for a near sell-out crowd like they got in 2013.
- Stromlo sports fans are a step closer to having more quality playing fields after a four-year wait. The plan to design new rectangular and oval fields at Stromlo Forest Park was first flagged in 2020. So far little has been done, but there is $670,000 allocated to get the stalled $15 million project moving again.
![We've taken a look at how things shape up for you in the 2024-25 ACT budget. Picture Shutterstock We've taken a look at how things shape up for you in the 2024-25 ACT budget. Picture Shutterstock](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XBxJDq6WLub2UphQ8wEq23/f22b7bd9-6695-4801-96d0-1266243b4f62.jpg/r0_0_5016_2831_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
We've taken a look at how things shape up for you in the 2024-25 ACT budget. Picture Shutterstock
Losers
- Short-term rental owners will have to pay a new 5 per cent tax on the revenue generated by their properties from July 1, 2025. The scheme will apply to Airbnb-style rentals.
- Public transport passengers will pay higher fares from January 1, 2025, with the ACT government confirming it will hike ticket prices for the first time in six years. The rise is expected to be 3 per cent.
- The Home of Football is delayed again. The project has been plagued by problems since it was announced in the 2019-20 budget with a 2023 completion date. It has now been pushed back to July 2026 at the earliest, and the government will still commit $29m to the project despite Capital Football withdrawing as a funding partner.
- The Phillip Oval construction stage was expected to begin in July, and be completed by the end of the year, but it has been delayed. The $6.93m project is now scheduled to be finished in June 2026.
- Consultants stand to be granted fewer contracts with the ACT Public Service, which will work to make $81.4 million in savings over the next four years.
GET ACROSS THE WHOLE A.C.T. BUDGET:
- Barr charts targeted spend as ACT budget grapples with rising costs
- Yes, rates are going up. Here's what it means for you
- Health, education, art: what families want out of the ACT budget
- Public transport ticket prices rise for first time in six years
- Yes, rates are going up ... 9% in one suburb. Find out your increase
- Here's who wins (and who loses) in the ACT budget
- Your five-minute wrap-up of the ACT budget
- Land sales drop leads to falling revenue for Suburban Land Agency