A 2025 election wipe-out has seen Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Labor come out with a decisive win, and this means we’re in for a fresh wave of election pledges turned policies. And let’s be honest, there was a lot announced in the last few months that will affect young Australians.
We’re broken down what you can expect to change, based on Labor’s pretty big list of promises so far.
Tax cuts
In Labor’s budget announced back in March, the party unveiled new “modest” tax cuts that should hopefully mean more money going into your pocket from next year.
Aussies earning above $45,000 — that’s around 80 per cent of taxpayers, according to the government — could expect an extra tax cut of around $268 in 2026-27 and $536 from 2027-28.
It’s aimed at giving households extra relief on top of the changes to the stage 3 tax cuts announced back in 2024.
To find out how much the tax cuts will affect you, you can head over to the calculator on the Budget website HERE.
Cheaper healthcare
With Albo’s Medicare always on hand to be whipped out through the campaign, Medicare and bulk billing were a big part of the re-election bid.
The party has earmarked $8.5 billion towards Medicare over four years, aiming for nine out of 10 GP visits to be bulk-billed by 2030. It would also go towards training nurses and 2,000 new GP trainees a year.
Telehealth services will be expanded through a newly created Medicare hotline and around 50 urgent care clinics will also be built.
Women suffering from endometriosis, pelvic pain or menopause will also have access to more specialised clinics as well as cheaper medicines, under the new funding.
Medicare even got a shout-out in Albo’s victory speech, when he proclaimed the card is “not Labor red or Liberal blue, it is green and gold”.
“Medicare belongs to all Australians and together we will make it stronger for all Australians,” he said, per ABC News.
Mental health
The party has pledged to invest $1 billion in mental health, including $225 million to either build or upgrade 31 Medicare mental health centres and over $200 million to build or upgrade 58 headspace services for young people.
It will also look to establish more youth specialist centres for young people with complex needs and support over 1,200 training places for mental health professionals and peer workers.
Labor has also pledged $46 million to establish an ongoing digital mental health service.
Energy rebates
Yup, the rebates from last year’s budget are set to continue in some form, meaning your electricity bills should benefit at least a little bit.
Households can expect to see $150 in energy rebates automatically applied to their electricity bills in two quarterly instalments of $75 from July 1. It will be less than we received last year and will apply for a shorter time frame (around six months till 31 December 2025),
And no, it’s not means-tested, meaning it applies for everyone (even the rich listers.)
Housing
Labor put first home buyers front and centre in their housing pitch, promising 100,000 new homes just for them. The first of these are expected to be ready by 2027.
The plan also helps first home buyers get in with just a five per cent deposit, without needing to pay lender’s mortgage insurance — a fee that usually adds around $23,000, as reported by the Guardian.
Additionally, Labor has vowed to ban foreign investors and temporary residents from purchasing existing homes for two years in a move to free up housing supply for Australians.
It said it will expand the Help-to-Buy scheme — which was legislated last year and backed by the Greens — to single people earning less than $100,000 and couples earning less than $160,000. Plus, they’re raising the maximum price of properties eligible under the scheme.
Slashing HECS debt
In good news for people wrangling with that HECS debt, Labor has committed to a 20 per cent cut as a one-off measure to combat growing debts as a result of recent inflation.
For the average university student with a debt of around $27,600, this is projected to slash some $5,520 from their Higher Education Loan Program debt.
The minimum income threshold will also be raised from July 2026 to at least $67,000, before graduates have to start repaying HECS debts.
And if the legislation passes, there will be 100,000 fee-free TAFE places a year for Australians from 2027.
Climate & the environment
Admittedly, Labor’s campaign this time around was light on new climate change commitments, but it has promised to introduce a federal environmental protection agency in what it claims is part of a wider fix to Australia’s “broken” environment laws.
Already on Labor’s plate is an ambition of 82 per cent of the electricity market powered by renewables by the end of the decade. It also intends to have emissions 43 per cent lower than 2005 levels by 2030.
Domestic violence
Labor’s announcement has a pretty big focus on addressing financial abuse. It’s outlined some strategies ahead of the election, like preventing perpetrators from using tax and corporate systems to accrue debts as a form of coercive control and exploring options to stop perpetrators accessing the superannuation of victim-survivors after death.
And there you have it! While some changes are expected are expected as soon as the new financial year in July, some might be kicking in from the next 2026 calendar year. But overall, there’s plenty of changes coming our way.
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