Now lawMoney & Tax Introduced in the House of Representatives, 30 Jul 2025

Government can now pay its 2025-26 running costs

This is the main yearly law that lets the federal government pay for its normal services. It had to be passed again after the 2025 election. It now pays for a home battery plan and cuts $800 million from consultants.

Official name: Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026

Who it affects

• Public servants and government departments: Their wages and running costs for most of 2025-26 come from this money.
• Consultants, contractors and labour hire firms: Government spending on them is cut by about $800 million this year.
• Households thinking about a home battery: This law adds about $415 million for the Cheaper Home Batteries program.
• Tasmanian businesses that ship goods: About $52 million more goes to a scheme that helps with the cost of shipping goods by sea.

No spending without Parliament

The government cannot spend public money unless Parliament says yes. All tax and other income goes into one big pot. It is called the Consolidated Revenue Fund. A law has to say how much can come out and what it is for.

Each year three main spending bills come with the Budget. The Budget is the government's yearly plan for tax and spending. This one is called Appropriation Bill (No. 1). An appropriation is money Parliament lets the government spend.

This bill covers the normal running of departments and their regular programs. The Constitution, Australia's founding rule book, says this money must sit in a bill of its own.

The 2025-26 version was first brought in on 25 March 2025. Three days later, the House of Representatives, the larger house of Parliament, was shut down for the federal election. Any bill still waiting at that point dies. This is called lapsing.

A short stopgap law, the Supply Act (No. 1), had already passed. It gave about five twelfths of the year's money. That was enough to the end of November 2025.

This bill gives the other seven twelfths, up to the end of June 2026. It also pays for new Budget plans.

What changed since it lapsed

The government wrote notes that explain the bill. They say the new bill is much the same as the old one, with some changes. Overall, the changes cut about $222 million from what the old bill would have spent.

About $483 million was added for choices made before the election. These were listed in a Treasury report that comes out before every election. The Treasury is the department that looks after the economy.

The biggest item is Cheaper Home Batteries. It gets about $395 million for the climate department. Another $20 million goes to the Clean Energy Regulator, the agency that runs clean energy schemes.

Other items include about $52 million for a Tasmanian shipping scheme. It helps pay the cost of moving goods across Bass Strait, the sea between Tasmania and the mainland. There is $10 million for a Home Affairs program to help people get along, called Supporting Social Cohesion.

The Treasury gets $5 million to act on an investigation into supermarkets.

About $78 million was added because cost guesses changed. That includes $50 million for a program called Australian Bushlands, run by the environment department. It also has about $27 million for Disability Employment Services, which help people with disability find work.

The biggest change is a cut. At the election, the government promised to spend less on consultants, contractors, labour hire and other costs that are not wages. This bill takes about $800 million out across departments for 2025-26.

One election promise adds $4.5 million for the Australian National Academy of Music. It trains young musicians. It is moving into South Melbourne Town Hall.

About $12 million keeps two programs going that were due to end. One is an office that works to improve the public service, the people who work for the federal government. It sits in the Australian Public Service Commission, the agency that oversees public servants. The other improves energy rules at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the consumer watchdog.

Renamed and moved departments

After the election, the Governor-General signed a new list of which minister looks after what. The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia. The list took effect on 13 May 2025, with more changes on 1 July 2025. The bill shows the money under the new homes.

The Department of Health and Aged Care became the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. The agency that runs the disability support scheme moved there from Social Services.

Sport moved to the department that looks after roads and transport. That department added Sport to its name.

Police and spy agencies moved from the Attorney-General, the minister for law, to Home Affairs. These include the Australian Federal Police, the national police force, and the domestic spy agency. The agency that tracks dirty money moved too.

Housing, homelessness and rules for the building industry moved to the Treasury. Services Australia runs Centrelink and Medicare payments. It moved to the Finance minister's area.

Two new agencies get money

Two new government bodies get money directly in this bill. The first checks safety for the nuclear-powered submarine program. Its name is the Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Regulator. It gets about $25.6 million. It was due to start by 1 November 2025.

The second is the Defence and Veterans' Services Commission, a new agency for veterans' services. It was due to start on 29 September 2025. It gets about $10 million.

The same $10 million was taken off the Defence department. So the total does not change.

How the money is spent

The first part explains the words in the bill. It says the detailed budget papers can be used to work out what the law means.

It also treats money moved inside the government as a real payment. That way it gets counted.

The second part sets out three kinds of money. The first kind pays a department's own costs. That means staff, suppliers and equipment worth $10 million or less. A department can move this money between its goals.

The second kind pays for programs the department runs for the government, such as grants and benefits. It is tied to a set goal.

The third kind goes to government bodies that stand apart in law, such as some agencies and companies. Their main department passes the money on.

Sometimes the government asks a department to do extra work during the year. The department usually pays for it from what it has. It can be topped up the next year.

Finance Minister's emergency fund

The Finance Minister has an emergency fund. It can be used when there is an urgent need that was missed or not expected. The limit for the whole year is $400 million. That includes anything used under the Supply Act.

Once this law starts, the Supply Act's emergency fund can no longer be used. So there is only ever one fund, and it does not double.

Each use must be put on the government's public website of laws, with a reason. The Finance Minister puts out a media release in any week the fund is used.

The Australian National Audit Office checks government spending. It looks at the fund each year. A yearly report goes to Parliament.

Parliament cannot vote to cancel a use of the fund. The government's notes say cancelling it would leave departments short for other programs. They say both big parties agree with this.

Special accounts and end date

Money can move into a special account if it has the same purpose as a spending line. A special account is money set aside for one job.

The money is set aside in law from the day the law starts. Amounts can shift if work moves between departments. They can also shift if GST, the 10 per cent tax on most goods and services, is paid back.

The Finance Minister can also control when and how much money goes to a department.

The law switches itself off at the start of 1 July 2028.

Start date

The bill was brought into the House of Representatives on 30 July 2025. MPs debated it in September and October. They went through it line by line on 7 to 9 October. The House passed it on 9 October 2025.

The Senate is the second house of Parliament. It got the bill on 27 October 2025 and passed it the next day.

The Governor-General signed it into law on 29 October 2025. It became Act No. 47 of 2025 and started that day.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

Open the full interactive page