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MS Australia has undertaken an analysis of the 2025-26 Budget to explore how it will impact the lives of people living with MS.
MS Australia welcomes the substantial investment in this Budget in healthcare and women’s health along with funding in disability, mental health, aged care, energy concessions, housing and nursing.
There were missed opportunities in this Budget with a lack of funding for health and medical research, no real increase to income support and a lack of direction on foundational disability supports and the outcomes of the Disability Royal Commission.
The areas of Budget investment are outlined below:
The Budget includes a comprehensive expansion of bulk billing, reducing the costs of PBS medicines, the establishment of 50 new Medicare Urgent Care Clinics and improving access to Medicare-eligible MRI services. There is also funding for a range of women’s health measures.
The Budget includes funding to further safeguard the integrity of the NDIS, redesign the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building program as a step towards foundational supports and to establish the Accessible Australia initiative. It also includes continued funding of digital mental health services. There is still a lack of clarity on how and when foundational supports will be rolled out and the implementation of the outcomes of the Disability Royal Commission.
The Budget includes continued funding for the delivery of aged care reforms and the implementation of recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. There is also funding to cover the outcome of the Fair Work Commission’s decision to increase the minimum award wages of registered and enrolled nurses employed in the aged care sector.
The Budget includes funding to extend energy bill rebates, for personal income tax cuts and to improve and expand support services for vulnerable Australians. There was no real increase to income support and a lack of measures to include people with disabilities in climate resilience and disaster response strategies.
The Budget includes funding to train and upskill nurses to increase the number of people entering the nursing profession and support existing nurses upgrading to become nurse practitioners.
There are no significant investments in health and medical research in this Budget with only a small allocation of funding to cover operational costs for the NHMRC.
