New year brings in new costs

GEELONG commuters will pay more for travelling at peak times in 2022, as V/Line raises prices after a 12-month regional freeze.

Travellers will now pay $13.80 during rush hour, a 20 cent increase on previous years and $9.66 during off-peak travel – a 14c increase from 2020.

In Victoria, tolls for the full length of Melbourne’s CityLink will increase by 11 cents to $10.48 on January 1 for cars. A trip across the Bolte Bridge from the airport will increase 7 cents to $9.07, the Burnley Tunnel from the West Gate also goes up by 7 cents to $6.22.

At a Geelong municipal level, residents will now pay $29 per car bootload to drop off rubbish at the tip, up $6 from last financial year. The cost of dumping industrial waste has also risen $44, now costing $196 per unit to drop at landfill.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also confirmed passport fees will rise annually on January 1 at the rate of inflation, making a 10-year passport for people 16 and over $308, compared with $301 last year.

Under Medicare, telehealth services will continue, in a reworked format. An extended telephone consultation item for 20 minutes or longer for patients in rural and remote communities will be introduced.

On the PBS, Forxiga will be listed to treat symptomatic heart failure and will now cost $42.50 a script or $6.80 with a concession card instead of more than $630 a year.

Braftovi, a breakthrough medication to treat bowel cancer that usually costs $33,000 a year, will also be available to 340 patients for about $80 a script.

For older Australians, the Pension Loans Scheme interest rate will be cut to 3.95 per cent a year.

In Victoria, electricity rate tariffs are changing for homeowners and small businesses based on the change to Victorian Default Offer. The average bill for residential customers in 2021 under the default offer was $1412. For 2022 it will be $1342.

A new mental health and wellbeing levy will become a payroll tax surcharge on wages paid in Victoria by businesses with national payrolls exceeding $10m each financial year.

Private gender-exclusive clubs in Victoria will not get a land tax concession reserved for charities, clubs and associations. The land tax rate will also rise by 0.25 percentage points for landholdings exceeding $1.8m and 0.30 percentage points for landholdings exceeding $3m.

And older students on Austudy will get an increase of $17.90 to $537.40 and singles with children will get an increase of $23 to $688.20. The Carer Allowance will increase by $4.60 to $136.50.

A child could also get a one-off $3000 Tertiary Access Payment if they move from an inner regional area for study.