SHORTFALL.AU

Live • Est. Annual Foregone Revenue
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▌ Total Shortfall Since You Opened This Page
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This isn't a deficit. It's a choice — repeated, every second, in policies that already exist.

Dollars in estimated foregone Commonwealth and State revenue, ticking from the moment this page loaded. Aggregated across 11 policy gaps totalling $122.2B/yr.

PER SECOND
$3,872
PER MINUTE
$232,337
PER HOUR
$13.9M
PER DAY
$334.6M
PER YEAR
$122.2B

RESOURCE & ENERGY

$23B / YR · 3 ITEMS

What we give away at the source.

In short: We let mining and gas companies take resources worth tens of billions and pay almost nothing back.

TAX CONCESSIONS

$82.7B / YR · 4 ITEMS

What we hand back at the top.

In short: A handful of tax breaks — on super, investment property and shares — quietly hand tens of billions a year back to the people who already have the most.

CORPORATE & OTHER

$16.5B / YR · 4 ITEMS

What we let slip through the cracks.

In short: Big companies, family trusts and the cash economy get away with billions a year that everyone else has to make up.

WHAT THIS
COULD FUND.

$122.2B/yr in foregone revenue, reframed as what we choose not to build. Not a single new tax required.

01

MEDICARE

Pays for every bulk-billed GP visit for all 27 million Australians (this is the GP rebate slice — hospitals and the chemist are extra).

SRC › Dept of Health MBS Statistics 2023-24
Healthcare
26% OF SHORTFALL
$32B/YR
02

RENEWABLE ENERGY TRANSITION

The public's share of building the new clean energy grid (transmission lines, batteries, large-scale renewables).

SRC › AEMO 2024 Integrated System Plan
Climate
12% OF SHORTFALL
$15B/YR
03

FREE UNIVERSAL CHILDCARE

Every kid aged 0–5 in childcare or kinder, with no fees for parents.

SRC › Productivity Commission, A Path to Universal Early Childhood Education and Care (2024)
Early Years
8.2% OF SHORTFALL
$10B/YR
04

SOCIAL HOUSING BUILD-OUT

Build around 20,000 new public housing homes every year (at $500k each).

SRC › AHURI / Everybody's Home build cost benchmarks
Housing
8.2% OF SHORTFALL
$10B/YR
05

AGED CARE REFORM

Pay for every recommendation from the aged care Royal Commission — better staff ratios, better care.

SRC › Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety — Final Report (2021)
Care
8.2% OF SHORTFALL
$10B/YR
06

NATIONAL HIGH-SPEED RAIL

Build a Melbourne–Sydney–Brisbane fast train, like Japan or France have (yearly slice of a 20-year build).

SRC › High Speed Rail Authority — Phase 1 Business Case
Infrastructure
8.2% OF SHORTFALL
$10B/YR
07

RAISE JOBSEEKER TO PENSION RATE

Lift JobSeeker to match the Age Pension — pulls roughly 900,000 people out of poverty.

SRC › DSS / ACOSS costing — JobSeeker to pension parity
Welfare
6.5% OF SHORTFALL
$8B/YR
08

NDIS SUSTAINABILITY TOP-UP

Cover the projected NDIS funding shortfall in full so people with disability keep their supports.

SRC › NDIS Financial Sustainability Framework — 2024 review
Disability
6.5% OF SHORTFALL
$8B/YR
09

TRIPLE PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING

Fund every public school to the level experts say it needs (the Schooling Resource Standard).

SRC › Australian Education Union — SRS funding gap analysis
Education
5.3% OF SHORTFALL
$6.5B/YR
10

DENTAL INTO MEDICARE

Add the dentist to Medicare so check-ups and fillings are bulk-billed.

SRC › Grattan Institute — Filling the gap (2019)
Healthcare
4.9% OF SHORTFALL
$6B/YR
11

FREE UNIVERSITY TUITION

Wipe out HECS — every undergrad uni course tuition-free.

SRC › Australian Universities Accord Final Report (2024)
Education
4.1% OF SHORTFALL
$5B/YR
12

DOUBLE FOREIGN AID

Get our overseas aid back to 0.5% of national income — closer to what wealthy peer countries give.

SRC › DFAT Australian Aid Budget Summary 2024-25
Global
3.9% OF SHORTFALL
$4.8B/YR
13

CLOSING THE GAP

Properly fund all 19 Closing the Gap targets — health, housing, jobs, education for First Nations Australians.

SRC › Productivity Commission Closing the Gap Annual Data Compilation
First Nations
3.7% OF SHORTFALL
$4.5B/YR
14

FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Free buses, trains and trams in every capital city — no more myki, Opal or Go cards.

SRC › BITRE Yearbook 2024 — public transport farebox aggregate
Transport
2.5% OF SHORTFALL
$3B/YR
WISHLIST TOTAL
$132.8B/YR
SHORTFALL ÷ WISHLIST
$122.2B ÷ $132.8B
92%
The $122.2B shortfall would cover 92% of this entire $132.8B wishlist — every year, without a single new tax.
Or — if you'd rather get the money back than spend it

TAXES WE COULD ABOLISH.

Recover $122.2B/yr and refund it to households as removed consumption taxes. Revenue-neutral. Same total tax take, fairer distribution.

01

GST

Scrap the 10% tax you pay on almost everything you buy — it hits low-income households hardest because they spend a bigger share of their income.

SRC › Treasury Budget 2024-25 — GST forecast
Consumption
75% OF SHORTFALL
$92B/YR
02

STAMP DUTY

Get rid of the big lump-sum tax you pay when you buy a home — economists call it the most damaging tax we have because it stops people moving for jobs or downsizing.

SRC › State Treasury aggregate residential transfer duty 2023-24
Property
17% OF SHORTFALL
$21B/YR
03

PAYROLL TAX (50% CUT)

Halve the state tax businesses pay on their wage bill — it currently makes hiring more expensive.

SRC › State Treasury budget papers (NSW/VIC/QLD/WA/SA aggregate)
State
13% OF SHORTFALL
$16B/YR
04

VEHICLE REGISTRATION FEES

Get rid of yearly car rego — it's the same flat fee for everyone, so it bites hardest on lower-income households.

SRC › State budget papers 2023-24 — motor vehicle registration aggregate (NSW ~$2.6B, VIC ~$2.1B, QLD ~$1.7B + others)
State
6.5% OF SHORTFALL
$8B/YR
05

TOBACCO EXCISE

Cut the world-leading tobacco tax that's now driving a huge black market in illegal smokes.

SRC › Treasury Budget 2024-25 — Tobacco excise forecast
Excise
6.1% OF SHORTFALL
$7.5B/YR
06

BEER & SPIRITS EXCISE

Lower the tax on beer, spirits and wine — Australia has some of the highest alcohol taxes in the developed world.

SRC › ATO Taxation Statistics — Alcohol excise 2023-24
Excise
5.7% OF SHORTFALL
$7B/YR
07

INSURANCE DUTIES

Scrap the state tax added to your home, car and health insurance premiums — it makes people skip cover they actually need.

SRC › Productivity Commission — Shifting the dial (2017) / state insurance duty data
State
5.7% OF SHORTFALL
$7B/YR
08

HECS INDEXATION

Stop adding inflation onto student loans every year — it's a hidden tax that hits graduates as prices rise.

SRC › Dept of Education — HELP indexation revenue
Education
2.5% OF SHORTFALL
$3B/YR
09

STATE LAND TAX (UNDER THRESHOLD)

Raise the threshold so mum-and-dad investors with one or two properties don't pay it — keep land tax for the big landlords only.

SRC › NSW + VIC + QLD state budget papers 2023-24 (under-threshold portion)
Property
2.5% OF SHORTFALL
$3B/YR
10

LUXURY CAR TAX

Drop the extra 33% tax on cars over a certain price — it's a narrow, oddly-designed surcharge.

SRC › ATO Taxation Statistics — LCT 2023-24
Excise
0.9% OF SHORTFALL
$1.1B/YR
TOTAL TAX REVENUE LISTED
$165.6B/YR
SHORTFALL ÷ THIS LIST
$122.2B ÷ $165.6B
74%
The $122.2B shortfall would cover 74% of this entire $165.6B list of taxes — abolish the lot in stages, or pick the most regressive first.
▌ What Changes If This Page Is Right?

Three things follow.

01
The shortfall is policy, not scarcity.
Every figure on this page exists because of a rule someone wrote. Rules can be rewritten.
02
The beneficiaries are concentrated. The cost is spread.
Most line items here flow to the top decile or to a handful of corporations. The bill is paid by everyone.
03
There is no “find the money” problem.
There is a “decide who pays” problem.
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