December 2024
January 1 brings cash boost for some ahead of election
A range of Labor’s cost-of-living relief measures will come into effect on New Year’s Day, meaning some voters will have a bit more cash each week before polling day.
Childcare package an early Christmas present to parents and children
For government to seek to save pennies by withholding access to early education for the children who will benefit from it the most is not just Scrooge-like behaviour, it’s a false economy.
October 2024
Lehrmann avoids $200k hit as appeal gets green light
A judge has ordered Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation appeal can proceed without a $200,000 hit to his hip pocket.
July 2024
Why the beach house might be cramping your retirement style
Holiday homes are great, but they don’t produce retirement income and might limit your age pension payments.
Deeming rate freeze costing up to $1.8 billion a year
If the freeze is maintained over the forward estimates, the overall unrealised savings could be more than $7bn, according to government figures, though this is not reflected in the budget.
June 2024
Why JobKeeper may be part of our productivity problem
An anxious Reserve Bank of Australia is hoping for a pick-up in labour productivity this year to help alleviate the economy’s inflation problem.
May 2024
Contractors in the firing line as public service headcount soars
The number of bureaucrats has increased nearly 10 per cent in one year alone and some $1.8 billion has been allocated to overhaul staffing at Services Australia.
Deeming cliff looms for 850k aged pensioners, welfare recipients
With inflation running high and cost-of-living pressures continuing to plague households, the government is being pressured to extend the freeze, or at least phase in, a higher deeming rate in the budget.
November 2023
New laws to make federal algorithms and AI explainable
New federal transparency laws to review machine decision-making and to explain how these decisions are made, will be introduced.
Centrelink, Medicare wait time blowout sparks 3000 new hires
Services Australia’s budget will get a $228 million boost to meet a sharp spike in welfare and health claims and delays dealing with them.
September 2023
Pay strike to hit Centrelink, child welfare agencies
The Albanese government is facing its first strike in an expected wave of industrial action by public servants protesting over its 11 per cent pay offer.
The best start for kids free of fees, Centrelink and activity tests
New analysis reveals poor families readily accessed childcare when it was free during the pandemic – the very children who will get the greatest benefit.
August 2023
Nobody Denim axes 40 staff, raising questions about its manufacturing future
The company’s chairman, John Condilis, said “various options” were being explored to continue some outsourced local manufacturing.
How to access your super early when times are tough
Early release of super is possible only in limited circumstances, such as severe financial hardship and compassionate grounds.
July 2023
How a spreadsheet error spawned the $4.7b robo-debt monster
An analysis created by junior officials looked at just 418 welfare cases and contained a fundamental error. Their bosses seized on it anyway.
My stepmother was a robo-debt victim, and I missed it
I didn’t realise until too late that my stepmother’s private anguish and embarrassment reflected a costly public policy failure called robo-debt.
Robo-debt report cold comfort for victim wrongly charged $65k
Rosemary Gay’s life was turned upside down when she received a letter in late 2016 that said she owed $65,000 to be paid within 28 days.
Canberra readies for its robo-debt day of reckoning
Friday’s royal commission report is expected to be an unvarnished take-down of big government at its worst.
June 2023
Centrelink work bans loom as unions press for inflation compensation
The Albanese government faces its first industrial confrontation after union members overwhelmingly rejected the government’s 10.5 per cent pay offer to public servants.
May 2023
Why god-doctors and not bulk billing are Medicare’s biggest problem
Correctly diagnosing what is driving the crisis in front-line health will provide a clearer understanding of how to fix the national insurance scheme.