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This morning, Prime Minister Albanese announced a freeze on the bi-annual indexation on draught beer excise for two years commencing in August 2025.

We echo the comments from Treasurer Chalmers that “this is a modest change but will help take a little bit of the pressure off beer drinkers, brewers and bars.”

The Independent Brewers Association (IBA) welcomes any change that will provide some relief for our Australian owned small manufacturers at a time when 48% of independent breweries have said they are struggling to retain profitability.

For many years, the IBA have been advocating for a freeze on the excise tax for ALL beer. Today’s announcement supports a 2-year freeze on draught beer and only after 84 successive increases.

Many independent breweries do have venues and tap rooms that provide welcoming, family friendly, environments to enjoy a locally made pint, and we appreciate the support for those businesses.  

Having a venue where you own your own taps is one of the most viable models for Australian-owned breweries because they struggle to get access in pubs and clubs due to the market power of the two foreign owned breweries.  

“The commitment to freeze the tax on draught from August 2025, coupled with the proposed increase the remissions cap by $50,000 from 1 July 2026 are both steps in the right direction, as is the opportunity for consultation and open dialogue.

We, of course wish that these were more immediate and applied to all beer as we know they will not be enough to prevent some of the smallest independent breweries from closing.

It is clear that Prime Minister Albanese is looking to find ways to provide relief and we thank him for that – but at the same time, look forward to a commitment to more meaningful change to our unfair alcohol tax regime and initiatives that would support Australian-owned small brewing businesses” say Kylie Lethbridge, Chief Executive Officer.

If you want to help #saveindiebeer then don’t forget to get involved in our Campaign here.