The July 1 changes you should know

The start of the 2024-25 financial year is just around the corner, and with it comes a host of new laws which will impact the financial lives of a significant number of Australians.

So what's about to change from July 1?

From tax reductions and superannuation tweaks to new parental leave entitlements, here are some of the major incoming changes that you'll want to know about.

1. Minimum wages

From July 1 workers on the national minimum wage and modern award minimum wage will see their rates increased by 3.75% to $24.10 per hour.

The Fair Work Commission, which announced the new rates earlier in the month, expects that around a quarter of all workers in Australia will be affected by the change.

Based on a regular 38-hour week, the change means that minimum wage employees will see their weekly wages rise from $882.80 to $915.90.

2. Superannuation guarantee rate

Workers should see the amount of superannuation being paid by their employers tick up in the new financial year as a result of the latest increase to the superannuation guarantee rate.

From July 1 the superannuation guarantee will rise from its current rate of 11% to a new rate of 11.5% for the 2024-25 financial year. Then from July 2025 the rate will increase one last time (for the moment at least) to 12%.

For most workers the latest rise will translate into hundreds of dollars in additional employer contributions throughout the year, though the effect of compounding will likely see that extra amount grow over the years.

3. Super contribution caps

Australians will be able to pour more money into their superannuation through concessional contributions in the new financial year, as the concessional contributions cap will increase from $27,500 to $30,000 from July 1.

Concessional contributions are those made pre-tax (e.g. through salary sacrificing). Instead, they are taxed at a special 15% rate within super which is lower than the marginal tax rate paid by most workers.

The cap for non-concessional contributions - which are made post-tax - will also increase at the same time from the current $110,000 each financial year to $120,000.

4. Paid parental leave

Australian parents will be able to access up to 110 days (22 weeks) of paid leave under the government's Paid Parental Leave scheme - up from 100 days (20 weeks). This applies to parents of children who are born or enter into care on or after July 1, 2024.

This is just the latest in a series of scheduled changes to paid parental leave, as the amount of paid leave will increase again to 120 days from July 2025, and to 130 days from July 2026.

Parents will also be eligible to receive superannuation on their parental leave payments for the first time from July 2025.

5. Income tax cuts

All workers who earn more than the tax-free threshold (currently $18,200) will pay less tax from July 1 as a result of the government's reforms to the stage three tax cuts which were passed by parliament earlier in the year.

Taxpayers should see the changes start to be reflected in their pay slips in the new financial year. Over the course of a year someone on an income of $40,000 will pay $654 less tax than they currently are, while someone earning $100,000 will fork out $2179 less tax.

6. Energy bills

Some households are likely to see the price they pay for electricity start to fall following the Australian Energy Regulator's (AER) recent determination on Default Market Offers for the 2024-25 financial year.

The Default Market Offer is the maximum amount that energy retailers can charge customers who are on default contracts - roughly 7.5% to 10% of residential customers in the New South Wales, South Australia and South East Queensland markets.

So from July, those households in New South Wales are expected to pay 1% less for their electricity, while those in South Australia will pay 2.8% less. Customers in South East Queensland are likely to see their prices rise by around 4.2% though.

More broadly, 10 million households around the country will start receiving rebates of $300 on their energy bills from July as part of the government's cost of living relief which was recently announced in the federal budget.

7. NBN plan prices

Elsewhere on the bill front, households may be in for more expensive home internet plans in the new financial year, as wholesale price increases pencilled in by NBN Co are expected to flow on to customers.

The wholesale prices of popular NBN 25, NBN 50 and NBN 100 plans will rise between $2.22 and $2.52 per month from July 1 - increases which, in many cases, are likely to be passed on by many NBN retailers to their customers.

Optus has already announced that it will be lifting prices on many of its NBN plans by $4-6 per month from July, while Telstra will be increasing the price of its NBN 25 and NBN 50 plans by $4 and $5 per month respectively.

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