Lisa's Blog

The changes announced in the 2016 Budget will impact on backpackers - they will now be expected to pay the base rate of 32.2 cents in the dollar tax from July 2016. The government also intends to reduce the DIBP work force by almost 400 people, even though there is a huge backlog of cases. Don't expect a speed up of processing times in the near future.

• Resourcing for DIBP down from approx $6m to $5.5m
• Total expenses for DIBP will be down $100000.
• Total income will increase by $740m
• Visa application charges will increase revenue by $79.4m
• Tourist visas will increase revenue by $1.5m over 4 years.
• Airport operators will be charged a commercial fee to provide premium border clearances
• DIBP staffing will decrease from 13750 to 13445
• The cost of an Australian passport will increase $20 from 01 January 2017 which will raise $173m over four years!
• Priority processing of passport applications will increase by $54