Meet Sarah and Tom. Both work full-time on roughly average wages — around $80,000 each. Their six-year-old, Emily, just started Year 1. Their four-year-old, Jack, is in daycare three days a week. They've got a mortgage on the family home in the outer suburbs, and a small investment property they bought five years ago.
If that sounds roughly like your household, here's how Treasurer Jim Chalmers' 2026–27 Federal Budget is likely to play out at your kitchen table.
The headline: about $4,000 a year better off on tax — eventually
With both adults earning around $80,000, the tax cuts add up faster than you might think.
From 1 July 2026, the tax rate on income between $18,201 and $45,000 drops from 16% to 15%. From 1 July 2027, it drops again to 14%. Stacked with the 2024 cuts already in place, plus the new $250 Working Australians Tax Offset (WATO), an Australian on average earnings gets a tax cut of roughly $1,978 in 2026–27.
For a dual-income household like the Patels, double it. That's around $4,000 a year by 2026–27, rising to roughly $5,000 a year from 2027–28.
At the chemist and GP: a clear win for families
PBS scripts are now capped at $25 (down from $31.60) for everyone with a Medicare card. With two young kids who inevitably bring home every bug from school and daycare, scripts add up. If the family fills 15–20 scripts a year between them, that's $100–130 saved annually.
On childcare: the 3-Day Guarantee is a quiet game-changer
The new 3-Day Guarantee replaces the old activity test for the Child Care Subsidy. From July, every eligible family qualifies for at least three subsidised days of early childhood education and care per week. For households balancing the chaotic logistics of two young kids, that stability is genuinely valuable.
On the investment property: this is where it gets complicated
Their property is grandfathered for negative gearing — they bought it before the 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 cut-off date.
However, the capital gains tax changes apply to gains arising after 1 July 2027, regardless of when the property was bought. From that date, the current 50% CGT discount is replaced with cost base indexation plus a 30% minimum tax rate.
This is genuinely the most consequential part of the Budget for families with an investment property, and it's worth a proper conversation with a financial adviser.
Putting it all together: the household scorecard
| Item | Estimated annual impact |
|---|---|
| Tax cuts (both parents) | +$3,950 |
| $1,000 instant deduction (both) | +$400 |
| Cheaper PBS scripts | +$100–130 |
| Fuel excise cut (3-month measure) | +$300–350 (one-off) |
Net: probably $3,000–4,500 better off in cash terms in 2026–27, before factoring in inflation.
This blog post is general information based on the 2026–27 Federal Budget announcements and is not personal financial advice.