The 2024-25 Budget includes funding for a range of initiatives relevant to decarbonising the nation’s infrastructure sector.
To implement the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, the Australian Government will provide $154.5 million over six years from 2023–24 (and $12.6 million per year ongoing).
This funding is broken down into the following streams:
- $84.5 million over five years from 2024–25 (and $12.6 million per year ongoing) to establish a regulator to administer the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, including to capture emissions data, establish a credit trading platform and undertake monitoring and compliance activities, and to undertake further work to bring Australian vehicle standards into line with international jurisdictions
- $60.0 million over four years from 2024–25 to support the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure at automotive businesses to support the transition to selling and servicing electric vehicles
- $10.0 million in 2023–24 for a national communications campaign to raise awareness of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard
The introduction of a New Vehicle Efficiency Standard is also estimated to decrease fuel excise receipts by $470.0 million over four years from 2024–25, owing to lower motoring costs resulting from greater availability of more fuel efficient vehicles.
The Future Made in Australia agenda is at the core of these investments, with funding targeted to address the major structural and strategic challenges that the Australian economy faces.
Priority industries under the Future Made in Australia agenda will fall into one of two streams:
- the Net Zero Transformation Stream, which includes industries where Australia will have a comparative advantage as the global economy transitions to net zero
- the Economic Resilience and Security Stream, which includes industries where some level of domestic capability is necessary to deliver economic resilience and security.
Investments made by the Australian Government in support of its Future Made in Australia initiative include:
- $5.1 billion for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency:
- $1.7 billion for the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund to unlock private capital across new industries like green metals and low carbon liquid fuels.
- $1.5 billion to build capability in solar and battery manufacturing to support supply chain resilience
- $1.9 billion to support ARENA’s work in developing, commercialising, manufacturing and deploying new renewable energy technologies
- Supporting renewable hydrogen with:
- $6.7 billion over the decade for a new production tax incentive of $2 per kilogram starting from 2027-28; and
- $2 billion for a new round of the successful Hydrogen Headstart program to give long-term certainty to the large-scale renewable hydrogen industry, important for future green iron and steel opportunities.
- $91 million to strengthen the clean energy workforce for the jobs of the future, including boosts to training, to apprenticeships and to facility and equipment upgrades across occupations like wind, solar, pumped hydro, large-scale battery, electricity networks, hydrogen and more.
This work is supported by a further $209.3 million to expand the Net Zero Economic Authority and $178.6m in worker transition support.