Top Ten Spending Cuts and Largest Programs for Expenditure

Discuss about the Resource Management Glossary National.

The top ten spending cuts as follows: National Disability Insurance Scheme Savings Fund suffering a  $2,186 million cut; Higher Education Reform – further consultation suffering a $1,982 million cut; $1,424 million cut or Public Sector Transformation and the Efficiency Dividend; $1,103 million cut for Jobs for Families Package – deferred implementation; $1,152 million cut for Aged Care Provider Funding – further revision of the Aged Care Funding Instrument; Medicare Benefits Schedule – pause indexation suffering a $925 million cut; Asset Recycling Initiative – return of unallocated funds suffering a $854 million cut; $494 million cut for Youth Employment Package – Work for the Dole – reform; Industry Skills Fund – efficiencies suffering a $223 million cut and Job Commitment Bonus – cessation suffering a $242 million cut ((Blumer, 2016).

The top ten largest programs for expenditure are as follows: Revenue Assistance to the States and Territories with  $61,265 million; Income support for seniors with $45,374 million ;Medicare benefits taking $21,956 million ; Family tax benefit with $19,341; Assistance to the States for public hospitals taking $17,912 million; $17,056 million was allocated to Income Support for People with Disability; Residential and flexible care with $11,319 million;  Pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical services taking $10,800 million; Non-government schools – national support with $10,554 million and Job seeker income support taking $10,458 million (Blumer, 2016).

Assistance to States for public hospital expenditure ranks fifth with revenue assistance to the State and Territories ranking first.  Assistance to States for public hospital expenditure saw an increase in spending due to the rise in demand for various programs in the medical services and benefits and pharmaceuticals services and benefits. States also got assistance for public hospitals sun functions (Australian Government, n.d.). Other reasons for the increase in spending are an increase in the demand for health services as well as a rise in the population many of which are aged and this keeps driving up health costs.

The federal government injection of $18.6 billion in education over the next ten years takes the largest portion of the budget’s spending. However, this injection comes with one specific restriction, it is tied to improving the performance of students and will prevent states from reducing their budget for education and cost-shifting (Balogh, 2017). This means that more than twenty elite schools in certain states like New South Wales and Queensland will lose money and other will have their funds frozen. But, public schools will win with these reforms as their funding will increase. Eve primary school student will pay $10,953 yearly and $13,764 for students in secondary school.

Impact on Education, Health, Small Businesses, and Social Security and Welfare

The Australian economy so exposed to a China downturn because it is very depend on the economic growth of China and any trouble with its economy could be disastrous for Australia. This is because during the financial crisis a decade ago, China was the one that saved capitalism from the problems it created itself (Verrender, 2017). The Chinese economy was the sole drive of global economic growth during that time which create a substantial raise in debt and investment (Balogh, 2017). It has been very difficult to curb these excesses and his has created a lot of problems such whether or not China’s economy will suffer a “hard landing”. Even if this does not happen, a slight slow in the country’s economy would be disastrous for Australia.

Even though Australia’s debt has been going up ever since the global financial crisis, it is till considerably low compared to most developed countries with advanced economies. The majority of Australia industries are open to international competition and possess skilled available workers which makes the country attractive to foreign investment. The government’s withdrawal from most areas of the market has ensured that the competition in various sectors like financial services has improved. In 2012, the country’s net debt to gross domestic product ration was at 11.6% and was predicated to rise to 12.7% in 2013 (Carmignani, & White, 2013). In 2016 the country’s net debt was almost at $326 billion; this is 19 percent of the gross domestic product.

In the most recent budget university students are losers because the funding for Universities was reduced by 2.8 billion for a 4 year period effective from 2018.  Effective January 2018, university students will face higher fees starting at 1.8% in next year which will be a total increase of 7.8% percent by the time we reach 2021 (Etax, 2017). Depending on the course a student is taking, he or she will pay an additional $1,000 to $3,600 for a course that last four years. For instance for a four year nursing course next year, the fees will increase from $26,550 to $27,800 with the government subsidies of $55,700 through the Commonwealth Grants.

Small businesses are losers especially those who depend on foreign workers because they will have to helping in raising $1.5 billion for the Skilling Australians Fund (Kainth, 2017). There will be a yearly foreign worker levy of $1,200 or $1,800 per employees who are looking for temporary work visas. Companies sponsoring permanent skilled workers will pay will deal with a $3,000 or $5,000 one-off levy.

Sources of Government Revenue

Health will be a loser in the most recent budget due the fact that Medicare Levy will increase from 2 percent to 2.5 percent which is an extra $8.2 billion over a period of four years which will double the number of households affected. The extra funds will be put in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Massola, 2017). This increase, even if it is just by half a percentage, will cause middle income workers, under the Coalition to carry the majority of the burden compared to those who are under Labor. In other words, effective July 1 2019, any Australian under Coalition earning $200,000 will have to 34.1 average tax rate but those under Labor will paying 34.3 percent average tax rate.

There are various things in the budget that are worth about $1.6 billion that are still not yet made public. Further an approximate amount of $2 billion saving in 2019 is still nor disclosed (Leslie, Donoughue, & Elvery, 2016). The government does not have a lot of time and must announce these remaining items within ten days when the campaigns starts. When this is done they might be some new losers and winners.

The government is involved in healthcare for various reasons. The government is responsible for purchasing and providing health care, ensure that the vulnerable populations have access to quality care as well as minimize medical errors and improve patient safety. Other reasons why the government is involved in health include control of health care markets, support the development of new health technologies and practices, regulate and monitor quality of care, build a healthcare workforce as well as bring together health care decision makers as well as other stakeholders within the health care system (PBS News Hour, 2013). To summarize, the government is involved in end in health care to protect the interests of a society by ensure that high quality health care is provided.

The Australian federal government is expected to spend $464.26 billion in the next financial year. There will be a decrease in the general public services due to specific discount rate that were used in superannuation. Defense will see an increase in spending due to the funding that will be needed to accomplish plans described in the 2016 defense white paper. Spending on education will also increase to accomplish the Quality Schools policy (Australian Government, n.d.). Spending the on health will also increase as well as social security and welfare expenses. Housing and community amenities and transport and communication on the other will experience a decline in expenses.

Social security and welfare expenditure incorporates social security and compensation as well as services to individuals the aged, people with disabilities, veterans, children and families as well as the unemployed. Assistance given to the aged makes up the largest percentage of social security and welfare expenditure with 39.4 percent and its divided in to two, income support for seniors and residential and flexible care (Parliament of Australia, 2015). Assistance for families with children comes second with 24.7 percent and its divided in three, family tax benefit, child care fee assistance, and parents’ income support. Assistance to people with disabilities comes next with 19.2 percent followed by assistance to the unemployed and the sick with 7.4 percent.

In Australia, universal health care is provided by Medicare. The cause delivered by Medicare is of high quality, affordable and easily accessible for Australians or any other person who has permanent residency. A person under Medicare can be treated at a public hospital by an appointed doctor. It is not possible to choose your doctor under Medicare or chose the time of admission in the hospital. A person with private cover will have more choices regarding the doctor and the time of admission (Private Health, n.d.). Since Medicare will cover 75 percent of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) fee for related medical costs, the patient or private insurer is responsible for the remaining 25 percent.

Per person, the average health expenditure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in 2010-2011 was approximately at $7,995 which was an increase compared to 2008-2009. In 2014 the health expenditure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander was $468.9 billion which is $43 449 per Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person (Commonwealth of Australia, 2014).

The government gets its revenue many from sources. The number one largest federal revenue source is Individual income tax. Individual income tax is responsible for more than 40 percent of the total federal revenue. Another source of income is payroll taxes which include wages and profits that pay for social security (Australian Bureau of Statics, 2017). Corporate income tax is the next source of federal revenue. Another source of revenue is federal excise taxes which include taxes on a variety of goods and services such as gasoline, alcoholic drinks, airline travel and cigarettes. The next source of federal revenue is estate and gift tax which includes tax on assets like real estate, stocks or cash.

General revenue assistance is a widespread category of payments that are made available to States so that they can spend them in accordance with specific activities that are priority in their budget. General revenue assistance include budget balancing assistance, national compensation policy agreements and compensation payments (Australian Government, n.d.). Specific Purpose Payments on the other hand are used in the achievement of important national policy goals in areas that states might be managing. In other words, there are specific conditions that states must meet in order to get access to specific purpose payments. These areas include social security, education, health and housing and transport.

NSPPs (National Specific Purpose Payments) are funding systems through which states are supported by the commonwealth in order to enable them to develop services in crucial sectors. Currently, there are three National Specific Purpose Payments that the commonwealth use to make these payments; these include the national Skills and Workforce Development, the National Affordable Housing and the National Disability Services (Australian, Government Department of Finance, n.d.). It is required that states spend NPPs in the concerned sectors.

Regarding MBS, the Australian government has done an allocation of $33.8 million of new retinal photography equipment that will be enhance the diagnosis process for patients who suffer from diabetic retinopathy in rural as well as regional areas. Another $3 million will kept for new debates on MRI scans for patients suffering from breast cancer (Scott, 2016). Concerning the MBS and veterans’ benefits, the government included various things such as the alliance of 57 skin service items, additional objects to test various number of allergens simultaneously as well limiting the co-claiming of certain items for varicose treatment where it is clinically appropriate.

A health care home is a home base responsible for coordinating complex care for individuals who suffer from chronic and challenging conditions. Health care homes benefit patients in many ways especial those who have several chronic illnesses.  They reduce the burden patients have to carry by coordinating their care leaving them with a clear mind that will enable them to easily detect symptoms, keep track of appointments, medications and advice from health care professionals (Australian, Government Department of Health, 2017). Health care homes enhances the quality of care of care as they make it possible for patients and their care team to develop a treatment plan that will enable patients to effectively manage their conditioning.

References

Australian Government. (n.d.). Statement 5: Expenses and Net Capital Investment. Retrieved from https://www.budget.gov.au/2016-17/content/bp1/html/bp1_bs5-01.htm

Australian Government. (n.d.). Statement 6: Expenses and Net Capital Investment. Retrieved from https://www.budget.gov.au/2017-18/content/bp1/download/bp1_bs6.pdf

Australian Bureau of Statics. (2017). Taxation Key Figures. Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/5506.0

Australian Government. Part 3: General Revenue Assistance. Retrieved from https://www.budget.gov.au/2011-12/content/bp3/html/bp3_04_part_3.htm

Australian, Government Department of Health. (2017). Health Care Homes: for consumers. Retrieved from https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/health-care-homes

Australian, Government Department of Finance. (n.d.). Resource Management glossary – national specific purpose payments. Retrieved from https://www.finance.gov.au/resource-management/pgpa-glossary/national-specific-purpose-payments/

Blumer, C. (2016). Budget 2016 cheat sheet: What you need to know. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-03/budget-2016-cheat-sheet-charts/7359608

Balogh, S. (2017). Budget 2017: schools funds tied to outcomes. Retrieved from https://www.theaustralian.com.au/budget-2017/budget-2017-schools-funds-tied-to-outcomes/news-story/4d6c78a98b51af82c9ed5cf2f980e72e

Commonwealth of Australia. (2014). the 2014 Indigenous Expenditure Report. Retrieved from https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/indigenous-expenditure-report/2014/indigenous-expenditure-report-2014.pdf

Etax. (2017). 2017 Budget for Students: Winners and Losers. Retrieved from https://www.etax.com.au/2017-budget-for-students/

Evershed, N. (2016). Your tax dollars: how is the government spending your money in the 2016 federal budget? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/datablog/ng-interactive/2016/may/03/your-tax-dollars-how-is-the-government-spending-your-money

Carmignani, F., & White, G. (2013). Fact Check: how strong is Australia’s economy? Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/factcheck-how-strong-is-australias-economy-16716

Kainth, S. (2017). Australian visas to cost more from 1 July 2017. Retrieved from https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2017/05/10/australian-visas-cost-more-1-july-2017

Leslie, T., Donoughue, P., & Elvery, S.  Budget 2016: Winners and losers. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-03/budget-2016-winners-losers/7338448

Massola, J. (2017). More household’s worse off under Coalition’s Medicare levy rise. Retrieved from https://www.margaretrivermail.com.au/story/4700830/more-households-worse-off-under-coalitions-medicare-levy-rise/

Private Health. (n.d.). What is covered by Medicare? Retrieved from https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/healthinsurance/whatiscovered/medicare.htm

Parliament of Australia. (2015). What counts as welfare spending? Retrieved from https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1516/WelfareSpend

PBS News Hour. (2013). What role should the government play in the health care of its citizens? Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs-july-dec13-aca_11-28/

Scott, S. (2016). Budget 2016: Medicare Benefits Schedule overhauled, Government to reap $50m in savings. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-03/budget-2016-medicare-benefits-schedule-overhauled/7380580

Verrender, I. (2017). The trouble with the Chinese economy and what it means for Australia. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-22/the-trouble-with-china-and-what-it-means-for-australia/8545886