From the tampon tax to Youth Allowance and Abstudy to personal income tax, these are the new laws slated to kick in during 2019.
The most awaited change to come into effect this year is the abolition of the 10% GST on tampons and other sanitary products.
Passing this law marks a victory for women’s rights advocates as they’ve been lobbying for the abolition of this impost since 1999 when it was introduced together with the GST.
Also from the very first day of 2019, there is a rise in the parental income limit for Youth Allowance and ABSTUDY recipients in regional and rural areas. This limit will increase from $150,000 to $160,000 annually, with an additional $10,000 added for each additional child.
Also coming into effect is a new law that curtails credit card limits for many Australians and prevents some people on low incomes from getting a credit card altogether.
Financial institutions have agreed to assess whether a new customer can afford to repay the credit limit on their credit card within three years before signing them up for a new credit card.
Starting from today, in some states people will pay more to use toll roads. Public transport will become more expensive as well.
