The updated Budget Standards provide new estimates for low-paid and unemployed Australians and their families living in metropolitan areas. For the first time, budgets were also estimated for one remote location (Fitzroy Crossing).
A budget standard indicates how much money a household or family needs to achieve a specified standard of living in a particular place at a specified time. They are derived by specifying the choice and price of a typical 'basket' of goods and services that particular family types require to attain an acceptable minimum standard of consumption and participation. They are consistent with healthy living in all its dimensions (for example, in terms of diet, health care and spending and individual activity).
The new 2024 Budget Standards involve the development of “core budgets” with no allowance for luxuries and minimal wastage. Two additional budget areas are included: a housing budget that includes expenditures for rent or home purchasing, and a supplementary budget of discretionary items, families typically purchase to participate in Australian society.
The project was funded by the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee (EIAC) to assess the adequacy of income support payments.
Research Centre
Social Policy Research Centre
Research Area
Measures of Social Inequality and Wellbeing
- Publications
- Funding agency
- Collaborators
Pooja Sawrikar
