Governance Institute of Australia responds to Federal Budget 2021

Governance Institute of Australia has welcomed tonight’s Federal Budget, in particular its funding for essential aged care reforms.

In the 2021 Federal Budget, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced $17.7 billion for aged care. A funding boost for women of $3.4 billion over five years and a major jobs injection were among the other key measures.

Governance Institute CEO Megan Motto said the budget is well placed to boost future growth – but is set against a backdrop of high expectation and significant uncertainty.

“The headline message from this budget is clearly aimed at getting Australians back into work and promoting the COVID-19 recovery,” Ms Motto said.

“All eyes were on this budget, and we have seen strong evidence of the beginning of real change for aged care - one of society’s most essential sectors.”

Ms Motto said the budget places a focus on reducing unemployment to fuel Australia’s economic recovery from the pandemic.

“We strongly support the measures to return Australians to work, support business, reduce regulatory red tape, and encourage investment. The budget’s target of a jobless rate of 4.75% by mid-2023 shows the Government is serious about protecting Australia from long-term economic damage.”

Key governance and risk management takeaways from the 2021 Federal Budget:

Aged care

A major funding boost of $17.7 billion over four years for the aged care sector forms a core part of the budget announcement.

“In an era of an ageing Australian demographic, we need to ensure we get bang for the buck from this investment”.

Women and diversity

The Federal Government announced $3.4 billion over the next five years for initiatives aimed at women. These include more generous childcare subsidies and domestic violence support services.

“These initiatives represent productivity boosting measures that essentially assist all parents to participate more fully in the workforce,” Ms Motto said.

Deregulation and Modernising Business Communications

This year’s budget has a strong focus on deregulation, with the Government committing $134.6 million to reduce the regulatory burden for businesses interactions with the public sector.

“We welcome this funding which is an important stepping stone in bringing Australia’s business landscape into the 21st century,” Ms Motto said.

Climate change

The budget addresses climate change with $1.6 billion to promote investment in clean energy technologies and $1.2 billion to enhance Australia’s resilience to natural disasters.

“This budget contains several targeted measures but appears to lack a coordinated approach that will give industry the long-term certainty it needs in the face of increasing consumer, investor and regulatory focus,” Ms Motto said.

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Media contact: media@governanceinstitute.com.au.

About Governance Institute of Australia
A national membership association, advocating for a community of more than 43,000 governance and risk management professionals from the listed, unlisted and not-for-profit sectors. Our mission is to drive better governance in all organisations, which will in turn create a stronger, better society.