The Australian Capital Territory budget has delivered what the government describes as a return to a cash operating surplus in 2026-27. According to the government, the surplus means it can fund more of its infrastructure program with cash, in addition to borrowing. It frames the result as a turning point that allows it to keep investing while continuing a long-running overhaul of the territory's finances.
A central feature of the budget is the continuation of a two-decade overhaul of the ACT tax system. The government is cutting stamp duty for all first-home buyers, as well as for all townhouses and units bought by owner-occupiers. The aim, it says, is to make it easier for people to enter the property market, particularly younger generations of Canberrans trying to buy a home of their own.
The budget also expands a series of exemptions. These include exemptions for pensioners, for participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and for people who have not owned a property in the past five years. In addition, the government is halving the lease variation charge for a limited time, a move it says will lower the cost of developing so-called missing middle housing such as terraces and townhouses.
The government argues the package will help more Canberrans into home ownership while also supporting older residents. It says the changes will assist pensioners and other older Canberrans who want to downsize from a standalone house. The measures are designed to encourage the building of terraces and townhouses, which the government says many people are crying out for as an alternative to a standalone dwelling or an apartment.
At the same time, rates bills are set to rise. The highest increase for houses falls in the suburbs of Forrest and Griffith, at 13 percent, while for units the steepest rise is in Ainslie, at 19 percent. Despite those figures, the government says residential rates bills will not go up by more than 5 percent on average across the territory, pointing to other changes that ease the overall burden.
Among those offsetting measures, the indexation of car registration fees announced in the last budget has been delayed. The government has also axed last year's controversial health levy, a decision it links to a hospital funding agreement reached with the Commonwealth in January. Together, these moves are presented as a way of keeping the average rates increase contained.
On the broader fiscal picture, the territory's net debt is expected to grow to more than 14 billion dollars by mid-2030, with annual interest payments alone reaching 1.2 billion dollars. The government insists those increases will taper off and denies that it is delaying budget repair or ignoring the risks from inflation and the war in the Middle East. It says it will not prioritise a return to surplus over supporting the community during what it calls uncertain times.