Our plan for Western Sydney: 2 Caring for our communities

2. Caring for our communities

Improving health services

Investing in health care is crucial for the growing populations across Western Sydney. Comprehensive health and mental health services also underpin a thriving economy by maximising potential and quality of life, ensuring sustainable economic growth and future development.

The 2024-25 Budget includes new measures and expands on existing measures for the State’s health system, which will benefit residents of Western Sydney.

• $480.7 million for an Emergency Department Relief package to further ease pressure on NSW emergency departments.
• $130.9 million for a Family Start Package providing early intervention programs to boost lifelong maternal and child health. This package includes:
  • $40.0 million to support vulnerable children in their first 2,000 days and support services for new parents and babies provided by Tresillian and Karitane
  • $15.0 million for more immunisation practitioners across Local Health Districts to improve vaccine uptake in at-risk communities.
• $111.8 million package to support community mental health and wellbeing by increasing the essential services available to people across NSW. This package includes:
  • $40.0 million for a further investment in the Pathways to Community Living Initiative supporting alternatives to long-term hospital care for people with complex needs, who have persistent mental illness
  • $39.0 million to strengthen mental health services by establishing a new Mental Health Single Front Door.¹

The 2024-25 Budget also maintains our investment in health infrastructure. The Building Better Hospitals Package commits an additional $151 million to deliver ongoing hospital redevelopments at Liverpool, Nepean and the Integrated Mental Health Complex at Westmead.

This brings the total investment in new and upgraded hospitals across Western Sydney to more than $3.6 billion over four years, and includes the continued delivery of:

• $1.3 billion new Bankstown Hospital to support the growing population of the Southwestern Sydney region
• the Nepean Hospital and Integrated Ambulatory Services Stage 1 and 2 redevelopment, an investment of more than $1.0 billion
• $700.0 million Rouse Hill Hospital redevelopment, providing improved public health care for residents in the growing North-West region of Sydney
• $619.0 million redevelopment of the Children’s Hospital at Westmead (Stage 2)
• $550.0 million Fairfield Hospital redevelopment, increasing capacity of critical care services
• $350.0 million Canterbury Hospital expansion and upgrade, which is undergoing its first major redevelopment since 1998
• the Blacktown Hospital and Mount Druitt Hospital redevelopments, including the $120.0 million expansion to increase bed capacity.

_{1 The Mental Health Single Front Door $39 million is part of both the Emergency Department and Mental Health total.}

Enhancing essential services

Relieving cost of living pressures

Households across the State, including Western Sydney communities, are facing increasing cost of living pressures. To help those experiencing financial hardship, the NSW Government is continuing to deliver responsible relief to households through measures such as energy rebates, toll relief and support for health care costs.

In 2024-25, the NSW Government will provide around $8.7 billion to households to assist with growing cost of living pressures, benefitting residents of Western Sydney. This includes:

• $188.8 million over four years for the Bulk-Billing Support Initiative, which will protect the cost of seeing a GP and reduce the strain on our emergency departments. The initiative will ease financial pressure on GP practices by waiving historical payroll tax liabilities for contractor GPs and provide an ongoing tax rebate to clinics that meet bulk-billing thresholds. This initiative has been designed to ease cost of living pressures on families and households by ensuring clinics don’t pass on additional costs to patients
• $60 weekly toll cap for private motorists, with more than 36,200 Western Sydney residents claiming benefits at an average of $245 in the first quarter of 2024 alone
• $435.4 million in 2024-25 for energy rebates and concessions. This is in addition to the Australian Government’s $300 energy bill relief payment
• $620.1 million over four years in water rebates for eligible pensioners, properties such as non-profit charities, and others experiencing financial hardship, to maintain access to vital water and waste-water services, including Western Sydney residents (Sydney Water customers)
• preschool fee relief, where families with young children will benefit from up to $4,220 per year. It is estimated that over 200,000 enrolments will be eligible for fee relief in 2024.

Since 1 July 2023, more than 11,600 Western Sydney households have benefitted from an exemption or concession on their first home. Under the First Home Buyer Assistance, first home buyers receive an exemption on their stamp duty when purchasing a home for up to $800,000 or a concession on their stamp duty when purchasing a home valued between $800,000 and $1.0 million.

Investing in disaster response and recovery