When Australian Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, handed down his fourth federal budget on 25 March, CA ANZ experts were in the lock-up to analyse how the announcements impact CAs. More than 4300 members registered for our budget webinar and more than 2700 joined live. 

The election

CA ANZ was prepared for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s announcement on 28 March, which called the 3 May federal election. On 28 February, we released seven election policy proposals for better financial security, productivity and regulatory certainty for Australians and small businesses. 

We now stand ready to work with the new government with their large mandate and our aspiration is that the government considers solving some of the issues that require longer term solutions that go well beyond the next election cycle. 

On 28 February, we released seven election policy proposals for better financial security, productivity and regulatory certainty for Australians and small businesses.

Tax

Following sustained advocacy by CA ANZ and the wider profession, the budget included welcome announcements about tax practitioner registration. CA ANZ also welcomed the announcement on 4 April of an extension to the A$20,000 instant asset write-off for small businesses but said it does not go far enough. In CA ANZ’s pre-budget submission and election policy proposals, we included making the instant asset write-off and associated threshold permanent, because it is a practical way to offer Australian businesses improved cash flow certainty and financial security. 

Superannuation and financial advice

Concern was expressed by CA ANZ that superannuation reform was not included in the budget. In our pre-budget submission and election policy proposals, we continued to call for annual super contribution caps to be replaced with appropriate lifetime caps and for all Australians to have access to financial advice by allowing qualified accountants to provide it. 

We were disappointed the budget did not make a specific allocation so the ATO could develop appropriate real-time reporting to help employers comply with the Payday Super reforms, which will require employers to pay superannuation guarantee contributions at the same time as salary and wages. 

This policy is currently scheduled to commence on 1 July 2026. CA ANZ will make a joint submission on the proposed implementation of payday superannuation draft legislation with several other peak professional associations.

Education, skills and training 

CA ANZ welcomed several announcements in the budget, following sustained calls for education investment and reform including A$2.5 billion over 11 years for higher education, a 20% cut to student debts and making permanent 100,000 free TAFE places annually, from 1 January 2027. 

CA ANZ’s pre-budget submission and election policy proposals advocated for addressing skill shortages and reducing education costs to boost Australia’s productivity. We recommended refocusing the migration system on skills, reducing higher education costs and investing in the skills, training and technology required across accounting, financial literacy, digital, AI and sustainability to strengthen Australia’s workforce. 

Reporting and assurance

CA ANZ has raised concerns that Australia is falling behind the rest of the world on digital reporting. To address this, our election policy proposals included amending the Corporations Act 2001 to require disclosing entities (listed companies and equivalent) to lodge their annual and half-year financial reports in the XBRL (extensible business reporting language) digital reporting format. The government should invest in digital reporting infrastructure to support the transition and implementation. It should also streamline inefficient and duplicative reporting to different agencies.

Sustainability

CA ANZ has called on the next government to stay the course on climate disclosures for regulatory and investor certainty. A post-implementation review conducted after the first year of reporting will identify any implementation issues that may need to be addressed.

We have joined other business and finance groups to endorse Australia’s continued bipartisan commitment to the Paris Agreement goals and called for all levels of government to continue to support Australia’s transition to a clean, competitive, resilient and prosperous net-zero economy. 

Business reform

CA ANZ’s election policy proposals continued our advocacy to remove all company register search fees for information held on Australian Securities & Investments Commission registers. This is particularly important as an additional 80,000 entities, including many accounting practices, will join the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime and will need to access these registers to identify and verify companies, directors and office holders. Many are small businesses, and the additional costs are likely to be passed onto small businesses and individuals using its services.

And one final word…

As I have decided to retire in July 2025, this will be my final advocacy column. I am deeply grateful for the contribution and support of the CA ANZ boards, CEOs, executive teams, advocacy teams and our members over the years, in ANZ and internationally. Together, we have worked hard to uphold standards and ethics, expand our influence and reach, and achieve many advocacy wins. 

I am confident in a bright future for chartered accountants. I will remain a steadfast advocate for the profession and continue to wear my CA badge with great pride.

Career highlights

Simon Grant FCA earned his CA designation in 1987, while working as an auditor in a Deloitte-acquired firm. He joined the then Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia as Queensland state manager in 2002 and, ever since, has worked to ‘keep the badge shiny’. 

Not long after joining CA ANZ, he became an FCA – further cementing his status as a leading member of the profession. 

In 2013, Grant was appointed head of members for Australia and New Zealand, and joined the merger team that helped create today’s CA ANZ. 

In 2014, he turned his attention to expanding CA ANZ’s international influence. His background as an auditor positioned him perfectly to take on the additional duties of leading the Australian advocacy team from 2018, achieving notable wins for our members and putting CA ANZ in the international spotlight as co-host of the World Congress of Accountants 2018 that was held in Sydney.

Simon Grant FCA earned his CA designation in 1987, while working as an auditor in a Deloitte-acquired firm. He joined the then Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia as Queensland state manager in 2002 and, ever since, has worked to ‘keep the badge shiny’. 

Not long after joining CA ANZ, he became an FCA – further cementing his status as a leading member of the profession. 

In 2013, Grant was appointed head of members for Australia and New Zealand, and joined the merger team that helped create today’s CA ANZ. 

In 2014, he turned his attention to expanding CA ANZ’s international influence. His background as an auditor positioned him perfectly to take on the additional duties of leading the Australian advocacy team from 2018, achieving notable wins for our members and putting CA ANZ in the international spotlight as co-host of the World Congress of Accountants 2018 that was held in Sydney.

Take aways

Read CA ANZ’s seven election policy proposals.

Find out more about CA ANZ’s advocacy and access our policy submissions.