Canberrans face being hit with fees and charges costing some households hundreds of dollars a month as the new financial year begins on Saturday.
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Fees for motorists, parking, camping and a range of other areas are going up, including a 7 per cent slug on rates for homeowners and 19 per cent increase for unit owners.
Here are some of the increases in fees and charges from Saturday:
- Rates will rise 7 per cent on average for homes in the ACT. The next annual household rates bill will be $2295 for a house, on average, and $1352 for units.
- Unit rates will increase by 19 per cent as changes are made to the way the government calculates rates for apartments and units.
- The existing discount for households who pay their rates early will drop from 3 per cent to 1 per cent. The change will raise $1.9 million for the territory's budget.
- Retail electricity bills will rise by around $333 per year for the typical household, while residential natural gas bills will increase by $247 on average. The price hikes will add hundreds of dollars to some annual power bills.
- Water bills are rising slightly. Icon Water says for an average household using 200 kilolitres of water per year, the new water and sewerage pricing means a 2.15 per cent increase or about $25.
- The fire and emergency services levy is set to increase by $42 to $294 per household. The levy was $252 in 2016.
- Car registration fees will rise by 5 per cent, taking the total cost of rego to $1141.70, including third party insurance with the lowest cost provider.
- Most general parking fines - including for staying over the expired time - increase by $6 from $108 to $114.
- Anyone caught parking in a disabled car space without a permit will pay $600. That's a $241 or 67 per cent increase on the previous $359 fine.
- The fee for a five-year driver's licence will increase by $3.60, from $180 to $183.60. A 25 per cent safe driver discount is applied where a driver had a clean driving record in the previous five years, which would make the five-year driver licence $137.70.
- Camping fees will increase by 20 per cent, an extra $1.60 to $3 per person a night. Caravan registration fees are being halved to align with NSW.
Federal government changes will see the price of some digital products including streaming services such as Netflix increase by about 10 per cent as the GST is applied.
About 2.3 million Australians will get a 3.3 per cent pay rise as the minimum wage goes up to $694.90 a week.
ACT Council of Social Service director Susan Helyar said the cost of living pressures would be felt across the community.
"There are some households, particularly those ... with low wages and are not eligible for a concession card who will really struggle with these costs, particularly the costs associated with car registration.
"We would look to see the concessions program extended to enable those low income households to get support to keep their car on the road."
While fees and charges are going up for average Australians from Saturday, the new financial year brings good news for some of the most senior public servants and politicians in Canberra.
Departmental secretaries have been given annual pay rises of up to $17,000-a-year, including Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet boss Martin Parkinson, who will be taking home $878,000 a year.
As part of a ruling from the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal last week, Treasury Secretary John Fraser's remuneration package will rise to $856,000. Foreign Affairs boss Frances Adamson and the new Defence Secretary will now each be paid $830,000.
Federal politicians will secure a tax cut from Saturday as the Coalition's deficit levy is lifted, alongside their latest 2 per cent pay increase. The change will see junior MPs take home more than $203,000 a year.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's pay packet will increase from $517,504 to $527,852.
