2026/27 Federal Budget overview

Budget superlatives can sometimes be over-played, but this years' Federal Budget certainly has enlivened the debate around the tax and other policy settings needed to address Australia's challenges in delivering affordable housing, infrastructure and services, whilst building economic resilience to geopolitical shocks.

Modern budget strategy is a complex patchwork of trade-offs and compromises, the demands of expenditure portfolios always outnumber the means of revenue generation, and difficult choices need to be made.

In an environment of structural change – particularly across energy systems, housing markets and infrastructure – the alignment of incentives across the budget can be as important as the scale of individual measures.


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Budget superlatives can sometimes be over-played, but this years' Federal Budget certainly has enlivened the debate around the tax and other policy settings needed to address Australia's challenges in delivering
The Federal Government's Safeguard Mechanism (SGM) review is scheduled to start in the second half of 2026. The Productivity Commission has recommended lowering the coverage threshold from 100,000 tCO₂-e to