The 2026–27 State Budget, delivered on 8 May 2026 by Treasurer Hon Rita Saffioti MLA, focuses on addressing key pressures facing the community.
It prioritises major investments to boost housing supply and affordability, enhance health infrastructure, respond to fuel supply challenges, and ease cost-of-living pressures.
A total of $4.7 billion in new funding is committed to tackling the State’s housing challenges, with a strong emphasis on increasing supply. This includes $1.3 billion for land development, supporting essential infrastructure such as power, water and other enabling infrastructure.
The Budget also allocates $692 million to regional housing. Under the new Seven Cities vision for regional WA, this will support the delivery of an additional 500 Government Regional Officers Housing (GROH) homes over the next five years.
Other key housing measures in the Budget include:
- more than $1 billion in new investment through the Housing Australia Future Fund partnership between the State and Commonwealth Governments, supporting delivery of an additional 1,426 homes
- $452 million to deliver 165 new social housing dwellings, refurbish 215 homes, support land acquisitions, and maintain WA’s 45,000 social housing properties, and
- $297 million housing tax package to support first home buyers and help seniors to downsize.
Health is a key priority in the Budget, with a record $9.1 billion in new investment for hospital infrastructure, frontline services and mental health. $492 million of which has been allocated over the next four years to strengthen regional health and mental health services.
The headline cost of living relief announcement was a $100 fuel support payment for Western Australians with a driver’s licence, aimed at easing pressure from rising fuel prices driven by conflict in the Middle East. Additional measures include $89.5 million for a third round of the WA Student Assistance Payment, $14.5 million to establish the Foster and Grand Carer Gold Card, and a range of other rebates and allowances across essential services.
The Budget also included a range of commitments to initiatives aimed at supporting jobs and progressing the Made in WA agenda.
For Local Governments, there were a number of key points to note from the Budget:
- continued commitment to the Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund (CSRFF), with $12 million allocated across the Budget and forward estimates
- an additional $4.8 million to manage the impact of the Polyphagous shot-hole borer (PSHB), including support for the Transition to Management Response Plan and tree treatment activities
- the commitment to the Regional Road Safety Program (Local Roads) has been maintained, although future Commonwealth co-funding remains uncertain ahead of the Federal Budget
- $17.8 million over 2026–27 to 2028–29 for the WA Circular Economy grants program to boost recycling capability and market development for emerging waste streams, and
- a slowdown in the Targeted Underground Power Program (TUPP) to allow Western Power to prioritise investment in infrastructure needed to support new housing developments.
Click below for a full summary of how the 2026-27 State Budget will impact Western Australian Local Governments and the communities they represent.
