Australians face “recession-like” conditions as the nation’s increasing reliance on population growth over productivity catches up with policy-makers. The economy is likely to avoid a technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction, but it won’t feel like it to Australian households, Deloitte Access Economics...
Australian households are the most persistently pessimistic they have been since the early-1990s recession, after a fourth Reserve Bank rate rise. Following the RBA’s decision to lift interest rates to the highest level since 2011, confidence among Australian consumers plunged about 20 per cent, according to...
Australian businesses will need time to adjust to the new ban on card surcharges as the major banks prepare for a potential merchant fees war. The change, driven by the central bank to give consumers transparency at the till, only came into effect on Thursday. Commonwealth Bank...
Small business owners need help – not regulation – to battle growing cyber threats, industry groups say. Business representatives addressed a cybersecurity inquiry at small and medium-sized enterprises in Canberra on Tuesday, as threats from artificial intelligence-assisted criminals continue to grow. Plain-spoken government guidance and tax-breaks for...
Home buyers are holding off to see where the falling Australian housing market lands as high interest rates, stubborn living costs and federal tax changes weigh on valuations. After a strong financial year of loan growth at People First Bank – Australia’s largest customer-owned bank –...
A year into retirement, something had changed. The novelty of waking without an alarm had faded. The long-awaited holiday had been taken. The jobs around the house that had accumulated over twenty years were slowly disappearing from the list. Retirement was no longer something this couple was...
Estate planning is often treated as something to deal with later in life. A task for retirement. A legal document to sign, file away and hopefully not think about again for many years. But good estate planning is far more meaningful than that. It is about protecting...
For many business owners, Business Activity Statements can feel like just another administrative task competing for attention. But BAS mistakes can create unnecessary stress, disrupt cash flow and make it harder to understand the true financial position of your business. The good news is that many BAS...
We often think about wellbeing in terms of what we eat, how much we exercise and whether we are getting enough sleep. But there is another part of wellbeing that can be just as important. The people around us. The conversations we have, the energy we absorb and...
Forget Bali, Fiji and the Maldives. If your family has reached the stage where the kids are adults and everyone is craving something a little more adventurous, it might be time to look somewhere most Australians have barely heard of. Welcome to São Tomé & Príncipe...