ALP election policies 2025

This page provides an overview of the relevant election policies announced by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) leading up to and during the 2025 Federal election campaign. It also includes a list of some relevant policies announced in the previous parliament that have yet to be enacted.

Please note: these measures are proposals only and not yet law. They may be changed, delayed or not passed at all.

Business 

• Instant Asset Write-Off: Extend the $20,000 instant asset write-off until 30 June 2026.
• Penalty rates: Legislate to safeguard penalty rates in awards, ensuring they cannot be reduced or traded away in enterprise bargaining agreements.
• Response to US tariffs:
  • Allocate $50 million to support affected sectors to secure and expand export markets.
  • Strengthen the anti-dumping regime to protect key industries such as steel, aluminium and manufacturing.
  • Establish a $1 billion Economic Resilience Program through the National Reconstruction Fund, offering zero-interest loans in 2025–26 and 2026–27 to help firms seize new export opportunities.
  • Launch a $20 million “Buy Australian” campaign to promote locally made products.
  • Create a Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve.
• Non-compete clause ban: From 2027, ban non-compete clauses for workers earning below the Fair Work Act’s high-income threshold (currently $175,000).

Personal taxes

• Personal income tax cuts:
  
  • From 1 July 2026: Reduce the 16% tax bracket (for incomes between $18,201 and $45,000) to 15%.
  • From 1 July 2027: Further reduce this rate to 14%.
• Standard Tax Deduction:
  
  • Introduce a $1,000 instant deduction for work-related expenses for salary and wage earners.
  • Charitable donations and other non-work-related deductions remain claimable.
  • Taxpayers with more than $1,000 in work-related expenses can continue to claim as usual.
  • Individuals with only business or investment income can continue to claim deductions under existing rules.

 Student loans

• HECS debt reduction: From 1 June 2025, all student loan balances (HELP, VET Student Loans, Australian Apprenticeship Loans, etc.) will be reduced by 20 per cent.
• HECS repayment threshold increase: From 1 July 2025, the minimum repayment threshold will be increased from $54,000 to $67,000.

Financial abuse

• Prevent perpetrators from using the tax and corporate systems to create debts as a form of coercive control and make perpetrators accountable for such debts.
• Explore making perpetrators liable for social security debts incurred by a victim-survivor due to coercion or financial abuse.
• Investigate measures to prevent perpetrators of domestic and family violence from receiving their victim’s superannuation after death.

Housing

• First home buyer support:
  • The government will guarantee a portion of home loans for first home buyers, enabling purchases with a 5 per cent deposit and no Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
  • Invest $10 billion to build up to 100,000 homes, reserved for first home buyers.

Energy

• Offer a 30 per cent discount on installed battery costs for households. Small businesses and community facilities will also be able to access the subsidy.

Funding measures

• International student visa fee increase: Raise fees by 25 per cent to $2,000, generating an estimated $760 million over the forward estimates.
• Public sector savings: Further reduce spending on consultants, contractors, labour hire, and non-wage expenses, saving $6.4 billion over the forward estimates.

Previously announced but unenacted measures

• Superannuation tax: apply a 30 per cent tax rate (up from 15 per cent) on earnings from super balances above $3 million. To apply from 1 July 2025.
• Payday Super: From 1 July 2026, employers will need to pay Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions to employees with every pay cycle, instead of quarterly. 
• Managed Investment Trusts: Clarify tax rules to ensure trusts owned by a single widely held investor (e.g. foreign pension funds) can access MIT concessions. This measure will complement taxpayer alert TA 2025/1 issued on 7 March 2025.
• Foreign Resident CGT reform (from 1 July 2025): 
  
  • Clarify and broaden the types of assets on which foreign residents are subject to CGT.
  • Amend the point-in-time principal asset test to a 365-day testing period.
  • Require foreign residents disposing of shares and other membership interests exceeding $20 million in value to notify the ATO, prior to the transaction being executed.
• General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) expansion (from 1 July 2024):
  
  • Target schemes reducing Australian tax paid by accessing a lower withholding tax rate on income paid to foreign residents.
  • Apply to arrangements that achieve an Australian income tax benefit, even if the dominant purpose was to reduce foreign income tax.
• Luxury Car Tax (LCT) changes (from 1 July 2025):
  
  • Tighten the definition of fuel-efficient vehicles by lowering the fuel consumption threshold from 7 litres per 100km to 3.5 litres per 100km.
  • Update the indexation rate for the LCT threshold for other luxury vehicles.