WELFARE groups are upset families, pensioners and youth are doing the heavy lifting to repair the federal budget.
"There are measures in this budget that rip the guts out of what remains of a fair and egalitarian Australia," St Vincent de Paul Society chief John Falzon said.
The measures would not help people into jobs but they would force people into deeper poverty.
UnitingCare Australia is disappointed the government didn't have the guts to trim $9 billion in superannuation concessions for the wealthy.
Cuts to family payments, income support and pensions were four times the size of the temporary levy on high-income earners, national director Lin Hatfield-Dodd said.
But she supports cutting family tax benefits to parents earning more than $100,000.
Teachers are furious there is no additional funding in the Gonski outer years, nor a loading for students with a disability.
"Students with a disability have been betrayed by this government," Australian Education Union president Angelo Gavrielatos told reporters in Canberra.
The government was entrenching disadvantage by walking away from struggling students, he said.
University students say the horror budget will lead to student debt escalating dramatically.
"You don't need a postgraduate degree to see that this budget sucks for students," Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations president Meghan Hopper said.
The move to deregulate university fees and cut commonwealth contributions along with other research cuts meant an overall funding reduction of $1.9 billion.
Ms Hopper was particularly concerned the changes meant students would effectively be funding their own equity scholarships through increased fees.
Australian Conservation Foundation chief Kelly O'Shanassy said the government would forgo $18 billion in revenue, and slow the growth of clean energy, by scrapping the carbon price.
"The cuts to renewable energy risk keeping Australian workers and businesses using 19th century technology to address a 21st century challenge," Ms O'Shanassy said.
Funding for the Reef Trust was welcome and fulfilled a coalition election promise.
Doctors said the chronically ill, elderly and low income families would be hit by the introduction of the $7 GP co-payment.
Australian Medical Association vice-president Geoffrey Dobb said there was a place for co-payments, but this was not the right model and it does not have the right protections.
"Access to quality primary care will be more difficult for many Australians."
Catholic Health Australia wants the co-payment monitored to ensure it does not hurt disadvantaged Australians.
Consumer group Choice claims households will struggle to cover basic health costs with the increased co-payment for PBS medicines and a GP co-payment.
"The concern with these changes is that they will deter people from seeking preventative health care, which is bad for public health, and bad for the health budget in the long run," the group said in a statement.
Motorists believe they are paying more than their fair share at the petrol pump for an investment in roads.
"This budget falls well short of what motorists want to see," Australian Automobile Association chief executive Andrew McKellar told reporters.
The association is disappointed the government has chosen to re-introduce indexation of the fuel excise.
Charities criticised the government's decision to keep foreign aid spending unchanged for the next two years.
"This broken promise is yet another blow to the millions in our region living on less than $2 a day," Oxfam chief executive Helen Szoke said in a statement.
It was "totally inadequate" that only $339 million had been allocated to respond to humanitarian disasters, given the threats faced by our immediate region.
Community broadcasters are happy their audiences will still be able to listen to their favourite programs after the government revealed it would continue vital funding.
"There are going to be millions of listeners and volunteers breathing a big sigh of relief tonight," Community Broadcasting Association of Australia president Adrian Basso said.
Community radio stations ran on the "smell of an oily rag" and even a modest cut could have ended many services.
Seniors fear the removal of the wage indexation component of the age pension will push them well below the poverty line.
"It sends a message to Australians that you shouldn't get sick ... and you shouldn't get old," said Charmaine Crowe from the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association.
Pensioners were being hit twice by the inevitable fall in pension amount and the lifting of the pension age to 70 by 2035.
Universities are disappointed the majority of increases in student fees will be offset by reduced commonwealth funding.
"In combination (with lower indexation) that represents a reduction of around $1.9 billion over the forward estimates," Universities Australia chief Belinda Robinson told AAP.
However, the scholarship scheme funded from fee increases would reduce the fear that higher charges would deter disadvantaged students.
Ms Robinson was also pleased the government had continued a fellowships program for mid-career researchers and research infrastructure funding.
Top research universities lauded the moves to further deregulate student places and fees.
"These historic reforms reconcile access and quality and make growth affordable," said Group of Eight chairman Ian Young, also the vice-chancellor of the Australian National University.
The Group of Eight has been pushing for fee deregulation and Professor Young said the government's decisions would let universities be more responsive to student needs.
It was vital the government continue to retain its student loans scheme to support access and opportunity.
Health professionals are angry about GP co-payments, saying the government doesn't have a mandate to slash Medicare.
"We're going to see people get sicker," Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation assistant federal secretary Annie Butler said.
She is upset health workers were not consulted about the changes and believes there are better ways to make the system more sustainable.
Trade unions say the budget is the end of a fair go for Australians.
"Tony Abbott was only too happy to campaign in a high-vis vest and a hard hat at work sites across the country but has not delivered for workers," ACTU president Ged Kearney told reporters.
The harshest measures had been targeted at young people, especially those learning a trade, she said.
They would lose direct financial support and be saddled with debt into their working lives.
Unions NSW say the budget is the first step in a conservative agenda to destroy Medicare and other social safety nets.
The Abbott government was asking low-income earners to bear more of the burden than the well-off, secretary Mark Lennon said.
"They're going to pay more for their petrol. They're going to be paying more to take their families to the doctors. There's going to be questions around their welfare," he said.
Disability campaigners are relieved the government has not delayed the national disability insurance scheme rollout.
"Australians with disability, their families and carers are used to missing out," Every Australian Counts campaign director John Della Bosca said.
He's also happy Prime Minister Tony Abbott has kept his promise to support the scheme introduced by Labor in 2013.
But other disability groups are concerned about welfare changes.
"Cutting people off the disability support pension won't create jobs," Australian Federation of Disability Organisations chief Matthew Wright said.
Those affected were likely to be headed to a living standard below the poverty line.
Church groups criticised the government over its offshore asylum-seeker detention program, as well as $7.9 billion in cuts to the aid budget over the next five years.
The cost of detaining asylum seekers offshore had blown out to $8.3 billion over the forward estimates, according to Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce chief Misha Coleman.
"This budget amounts to a blank cheque for cruelty and at a time when so many other essential services and programs are being cut," she said.
Community detention cost a fraction of what it cost to lock people up in "shameful conditions" in other countries.
The not-for-profit superannuation sector says slowing the timetable for reaching 12 per cent compulsory employer contributions would lead to further inequity in retirement incomes.
Labor had planned to reach 12 per cent by 2021/22, but that's now being put back a year.
"This will only make it harder for people to build up their super savings and have a dignified retirement," says Tom Garcia, chief of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees.
Industry Super Australia says it is too much to expect those in manual occupations to work until they're 70.
"It's not the future most Australians aspire to and it will reduce the choices available to them," the group's director of public affairs Matt Linden said.
Private higher education providers are thrilled the government will open up subsidies to all diploma and sub-bachelor students.
"This budget delivers all that we've been seeking in equitable treatment of students, diversity of institutions and choice," Council of Private Higher Education chief Adrian McComb told AAP.
However, the fine detail still needed negotiating, particularly how much government would provide for private students.
Senior citizens are worried about the future of the age pension, but welcome a scheme encouraging mature-age employment.
"It's a good thing, but as a package it's not enough," said Council of the Ageing head Ian Yates.
More money would still be needed for training, and it didn't help that the program was being funded by the abolition of the mature-age offset.
Farmers are pleased the government did not touch the diesel fuel rebate, saying the agriculture industry avoided a $100 million hit.
The National Farmers Federation is also happy full funding for the drought package, including $10 million for farmer mental health, is included.
"Farmer health is very critical. We've been through a significant drought," NFF president Brent Findlay told reporters in Canberra.
The public sector union says the 16,500 job cuts announced in the budget didn't include job losses that would result from the government's program of privatisations and outsourcing of services.
"This budget is a con job," Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Nadine Flood said.
The government had pretended the public service was bigger than it was, then ran it down through cuts before selling it off to their "big business mates".
Scientists have praised the decision to double medical research by 2022.
"It is disappointing that this kind of long-term vision has not extended to the rest of Australian science," Australian Science Academy president Suzanne Cory said.
She condemned budget cuts to the CSIRO, the Australian Research Council and other agencies.
Manufacturing workers say it's unbelievable that industry assistance is being reduced at a time when workers are losing their jobs.
"For us, this is about changing the face of Australia ... for the worse," Australian Manufacturers Workers Union president Andrew Dettmer said.
Seniors say the Restart program for workers aged over 50, while a positive initiative, is merely a down payment for the extension of the pension age to 70 in 2032.
The omission of the family home in any asset test for the age pension, which had caused "considerable anxiety", was also a relief, National Seniors chief Michael O'Neill told reporters in Canberra.
But seniors would take on notice planned changes to indexation of the pension by 2017.
"I foresee them now sharpening their pencils as they go into the ballot box."
SBS has reassured its audience that savings across the organisation would be identified to absorb its annual $2 million cut in government funding.
"As SBS relies heavily on commercial revenues, we regularly plan for changes to our overall funding," managing director Michael Ebeid said.
SBS had a "lean and agile" culture with innovative employees who were highly-skilled at delivering more with less.
While SBS accepted it was a tough budget, Mr Ebeid warned any future cuts would affect content, audiences and commercial revenue.
The housing industry is disappointed the government has abandoned the final round of the national rental affordability scheme.
The scheme resulted in thousands of affordable homes for low and moderate income households and increased Australia's housing stock.
"It generated countless jobs in the process," Housing Industry Association chief Graham Wolfe said.
Engineers have welcomed the big spend on infrastructure but warned skill shortages would hamper the ability to deliver.
Australia had a real problem retaining skilled engineers, with more than 40 per cent now working outside the profession, Engineers Australia chief Stephen Durkin said.
More than 100,000 engineers were employed across the government sector a few decades ago but now there were fewer than 20,000.
"We need to reinvigorate the engineering sector and any infrastructure spend is welcome news," Mr Durkin said in a statement.
Climate groups say the abolition of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency is a backward step for the nation.
Australia would lose out in the global race for renewable energy and, with it, billions of dollars of investment and highly-skilled jobs, Clean Energy Council spokesman Kane Thornton said.
Australia will no longer be at the global forefront of solar development after the Australian Renewable Energy Agency is abolished, the Australian Solar Council says.
"This government has chosen to stick solar where the sun doesn't shine," chief executive John Grimes said.
But wine drinkers have been spared from having to pay more for a glass of their favourite drop.
The decision not to increase wine taxes would help protect the industry in a time when it was facing very low average levels of profitability, Winemakers Federation chief Paul Evans said.
"The last thing the Australian wine industry needs right now is a tax hike," he said.
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