Federal Budget delivers fairer housing measures for teaching profession

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 131 No 4, 26 June 2026, page no.11

The Australian Education Union has welcomed the Albanese government’s Commonwealth Budget tax measures, which move towards fairness in the housing and tax system. However, it has expressed significant concerns about cuts to disability funding, including in schools.

Tax changes

• From 2027, negative gearing for residential property will be limited to new builds. Properties already held now will be exempt from the change. 
• From 2027, the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships will be replaced by CPI indexation and a 30 per cent minimum tax rate on real gains.
• A 30 per cent minimum tax on discretionary trusts is to be introduced to fund increases to the tax-free threshold.
   

It is estimated that these changes will support around 75,000 additional first home buyers into the market over the next decade.

AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said the housing tax measures are an important step towards addressing housing affordability.

“We have members across Australia who cannot afford to live in the communities they teach in. Many are locked out of house ownership and impacted by rising rents, which impacts on the retention of staff and contributes to workforce shortages.”

“These tax measures will help make housing fairer and more affordable for teachers, principals and education support staff who deserve to live in the communities in which they serve.”

Student with disability loadings
The “Education Portfolio – schools reform” measure has forecast cuts of $472.1 million over four years from 2026–27 (and $203.3 million per year ongoing) to Commonwealth student with disability loadings to schools.

It is not clear at this stage how much of this will come from winding back the enormous growth in loadings paid to private schools in recent years and how much will come from changes to loading access criteria across the board.  

Correna Haythorpe said: “There are more than 200,000 students in the state school system who have been assessed as having a disability yet receive no disability loadings. At the same time, we have seen disability funding to private schools grow by $1.4 billion from 2020 to 2024.

“Any budget savings in the disability sector have the potential to increase budgetary and workload pressures in state schools, so we will be seeking further details about these measures from the government.”

Other school funding measures

• $5.6 million over two years from 2026–27 to set up a new Teaching and Learning Commission to provide better coordination between curriculum, teaching, assessment, research, and reporting practices.
• $89.2 million to achieve better outcomes for First Nations people under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.  This includes:
  • $55.5 million over three years from 2026–27 to extend the Clontarf Foundation’s program supporting school engagement for at-risk First Nations young men for the 2027 and 2028 school years
  • $30.0 million over three years from 2026–27 to continue support for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation’s secondary school scholarships for high-achieving First Nations students for the 2027 and 2028 school years 
  • $23.8 million over two years from 2026–27 to extend the Indigenous Boarding Provider grants program for the 2027 school year. 
• $1.8 million in 2026–27 to extend Australian Academy of Science school programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to boost the confidence and capability of STEM teachers and students. 
• Education measures to combat antisemitism, including: 
  • $10.0 million to expand the Special Envoy’s United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation teacher training, continue the My Mind Check tool for schools, support the Monash Initiative for Rapid Research into Antisemitism, and conduct a review of the Australian Curriculum and Early Years Learning Framework 
  • $6.0 million over five years for an online teacher resources hub to strengthen social cohesion, with a focus on antisemitism in schools 
  • $5.0 million over two years from 2025–26 to establish the 12month David Gonski Antisemitism Education Taskforce.
• $3.1 million over four years from 2025–26 to continue child and youth mental health support for students in Years 7 to 9 at state secondary schools across Australia 
• Consent and respectful relationships education cut to $8.3 million in 2026-27 and 2027-28, after being funded at $20.4 million in 2025-26.
   

TAFE
These was no specific mention of TAFE in the Federal Budget.