KEY CHALLENGES FOR AUSTRALIA’S ECONOMY * Economic growth is expected to moderate to 1.75 per cent in 2023/24 before recovering to 2.25 per cent in 2024/25 * Household budgets remain under pressure from elevated but moderating inflation and higher interest rates * Growth in real household disposable incomes...
Time’s up for businesses making dodgy or vague claims about being clean, green and sustainable. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Tuesday released final guidance for clear and accurate environmental claims about products or services so that consumers are not misled. “Where a business has genuinely...
The federal government has been urged to lift welfare payments, with a new study finding a majority of people could not live on the current JobSeeker rate. Research from the Australian Council of Social Service and the University of NSW found 62 per cent of people...
A construction boom across multiple Australian states will widen a skills and labour gap, with the nation already short of more than 200,000 infrastructure workers. The latest snapshot by Infrastructure Australia shows some regional areas in NSW, the Northern Territory and South Australia will experience significant...
Australia’s energy market operators are confident the network is in good shape ahead of another hazardous summer. But governments, companies and regulators are readying for a so-called one-in-10-year day of high demand and potentially deadly conditions. This year’s summer forecast is for hot and dry El Nino...
Australians will have to shell out nearly $400 for a new passport after another increase was announced in the mid-year budget update. Along with routine annual indexation in line with the consumer price index, travellers will be hit with a 15 per cent increase to passport...
New COVID-19 vaccines targeting the current Omicron variant of the virus are available in community pharmacies throughout Australia. The XBB 1.5 shots were approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in October and can be used as a primary immunisation dosage as well a booster. Pharmacy Guild of...
Spending on road and rail projects is expected to be adjusted by $7.4 billion over four years under a re-profiling by the Albanese government. The mid-year budget update, released on Wednesday by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, reveals reforms to the Infrastructure Investment Program will decrease payments for...
An accused scammer who allegedly sent more than 17 million fraudulent text messages has been charged as police issue a warning for the public to be vigilant in the lead up to Christmas. A NSW Police cybercrime squad has been investigating the use of Subscriber Identity...
Motorists will have to choose cars that use half as much fuel to avoid a vehicle tax in future after changes in a federal budget update. The Luxury Car Tax reforms, announced in the government’s mid-year budget on Wednesday, will mean only vehicles that use 3.5...