Queensland Budget 2023-24

$1.6 Billion

to tackle the cost of living in 2023-24

$550

Cost of Living rebate

on electricity bills to all Queensland households

The 2023–24 Queensland Budget is responding to the challenges facing Queenslanders.

These include tackling cost-of-living pressures, delivering enhanced health care services, addressing housing affordability, and providing safer and more secure communities, including advancing opportunities for First Nations peoples.

The Budget also includes a record capital program, investing in critical economic and social infrastructure across all our regions to position Queensland on a clear path towards longer-term growth and prosperity.

In line with the government’s economic strategy to create more jobs in more industries, this investment will provide the infrastructure across all regions of the state to enhance productivity and the competitiveness of Queensland’s traditional industries and drive growth in new and emerging sectors, and support the state’s ongoing decarbonisation agenda.

The unprecedented infrastructure investment outlined in the 2023–24 Budget will also provide the essential health and other services needed to meet the needs of a growing population, support the growth and development of a skilled and flexible workforce, and ensure Queensland’s economy and communities remain strong, resilient and able to respond to future challenges and opportunities.

Tackling the cost of living

$550 Cost of Living Rebate on electricity bills to all Queensland households
$700 Cost of Living Rebate on electricity bills for vulnerable households, in addition to the existing $372 under the Queensland Electricity Rebate Scheme, bringing total rebates for this group to $1,072
$650 rebate on electricity bills for around 205,000 eligible small businesses, cutting the cost of doing business in Queensland
$645 million over 4 years for 15 hours per week of free kindy for all 4-year-olds
$70.3 million over 4 years to increase assistance to regional patients through the Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme
Up to $150 for eligible children aged 0 to 4 years for learn-to-swim activities
$2.7 million over 2 years to extend and expand school breakfast programs in areas experiencing hardship across Queensland
$315,000 to provide grant funding to Foodbank to deliver critical food relief.

Delivering for Queensland

Better health services for all Queenslanders

Almost $2.9 billion uplift to health funding to address demand and cost pressures and support programs and initiatives targeting improving ambulance responsiveness and reducing ramping, addressing pressures on emergency departments, reducing wait times for surgery and specialist clinics, as well as boosting women’s health care and mental health care
$10.8 million in 2023–24 for 40 new ambulance vehicles
Up to $70,000 for medical practitioners and $20,000 for health care workers to relocate to Queensland
$5,000 cost-of-living allowance for nursing and midwifery students doing placements in rural and regional Queensland
$586.1 million towards a new 10-year agreement with LifeFlight Australia 
Opening all 7 Satellite Hospitals at Caboolture, Kallangur, Ripley, Eight Mile Plains, Tugun, Bribie Island and Redlands in 2023–24
Completion of major expansions at Caboolture and Logan Hospitals
$150 million for a new mental health facility as part of the staged expansion of Redland Hospital.

Alleviating housing pressures

Doubling the Housing Investment Fund to $2 billion, to support commencements of 5,600 social and affordable homes by 30 June 2027
$1.1 billion in increased funding to drive social housing delivery and supply, including to meet higher construction costs and to boost the QuickStarts Queensland program target by 500 homes, bringing it to 3,265 social housing commencements by 30 June 2025 
Over $250 million for housing and homeless support services, including outcomes from the Queensland Housing Roundtables and Queensland Housing Summit
Build-to-rent tax concessions for eligible developments providing at least 10 per cent as affordable dwellings at discounted rents  

Delivering solutions for a safe community

$96 million for Youth Co-responder Teams who engage with young people to break the cycle of youth crime
$50 million for infrastructure development at priority Queensland Police-Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) sites to improve frontline social program delivery and intervention initiatives for vulnerable youths and $6 million to enable PCYC police officers to increase their focus on social programs aimed at the prevention of youth crime
$37 million to ensure repeat offenders spend less time on remand and more time serving their sentences, supporting the Government’s amendments to the Strengthening Community Safety Act 2023 
$64 million for policing responses including high visibility patrols and specialist youth crime rapid response squads
$30 million to help seniors secure their homes
$15 million to empower communities to develop local solutions to youth crime issues
$10 million for a trial to subsidise the cost for Queenslanders to install vehicle immobilisers in Cairns, Townsville and Mount Isa
$9 million to respond better to victims of property crime where violence or a threat of violence has occurred, including for Victim Assist Queensland
$89.7 million to address capacity issues at youth detention centres and support preparations for the 2 new youth detention centres.

An increase of

$1.1 Billion

for the delivery and supply of social housing across Queensland

$2.9 Billion

to address demand and cost pressures for our health system

A record

$89 Billion

The Big Build

4-year capital program

The Big Build

A record $89 billion 4-year capital program
$4 billion set aside in the 2022–23 Budget Update for priority regional infrastructure projects
Provision for $1.9 billion over 4 years to commence delivery of venues infrastructure for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Around $19 billion total capital investment over 4 years to support the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan
Work is continuing to expand health system capacity through the $9.785 billion (over 6 years) Capacity Expansion Program to deliver around 2,200 additional overnight beds
$6.9 billion in 2023–24 towards integrated, safe and efficient transport infrastructure across the state
$968 million over 10-years to establish a strategic land acquisition fund for new school sites
$358 million for Queensland state schools for new general and specialist learning spaces
$259 million over 3 years to expand the school halls program
$152 million to deliver a suite of initiatives to enhance Queensland’s disaster recovery and resilience, jointly funded with the Australian Government from the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements Efficiencies.

First Nations peoples

$167 million to support the Our Way initiative intended to reduce the rate of over-representation of First Nations children in the child protection system
$38.6 million for Managing Country with First Nations peoples.