What does the 2021-22 Western Australia (WA) State Budget mean for you and your business?

The WA State government budget for 2021-22 was handed down on September 9, 2021. 

The budget has a strong focus on investment in education, infrastructure and job growth but nothing in the form of State tax relief for business, or substantive ongoing financial support for industry sectors significantly impacted by COVID-19. 

Taxation

The budget takes a "steady as she goes" approach to State taxation measures with no change to transfer duty, land tax or payroll tax. 

In fact, the budget papers indicate taxation revenue will increase across the board in 2022 compared to the 2021 budgeted figures. The budget indicated taxation revenue from payroll tax, transfer duty, landholder duty and vehicle licence duty exceeded the 2021 budgeted figures. This is despite the provision of certain COVID-19 economic support measures during 2021 including payroll tax concessions.

Skilled Workforce

Key State government initiatives targeted toward attracting a skilled workforce and easing workforce pressures include:

  •  Bringing forward 100 additional places to the Jobs and Skills WA Adult Apprentice Employer Incentive to support mature age apprentices obtaining quality training.
  • $25m for free TAFE short courses to upskill Western Australians.
  • $11.9m for the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Re-engagement Incentive.
  • $32.4m to create 300 new jobs for apprentices and trainees with Group Training Schemes.
  • Requesting 5,000 additional Commonwealth places under the State Nominated Migration Program to attract skilled onshore migrants to work in WA.

Investment Attraction

  • $100m for an Investment Attraction and New Industries Fund to provide industry support and grants for a range of emerging industries including battery manufacturing, green steel and cyber security.
  • The commitment is also targeted toward supporting the relocation of industries and company headquarters to WA.

Tourism

  • The State government will commit funding for marketing to encourage unemployed and underemployed Western Australians living in regional areas to get involved in local tourism with the aim of developing a long-term sustainable workforce.

The WA State budget is focused on infrastructure, health, employment and training. There is little in the way of tax policy reform and rather, a focus on increased revenue from State based taxation, the budget contains no real incentives for small and medium businesses still recovering from the impacts of COVID-19.

For more information

Please contact your local RSM adviser to discuss the implications of this budget for you.