Australia to hold national roundtable to boost productivity
The roundtable is being held because Australia's productivity growth has been low in recent decades.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that now is the right time to discuss the issue and explore ways to improve the country's productivity.
LISTEN TO
SBS Filipino
07:35 Filipino 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AU Financial Review
14 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
Canberra mulls critical minerals price support to combat China: Rudd
Washington | Australia is in discussions with like-minded nations and trading partners as it considers ways to support prices for domestically processed critical minerals, which former prime minister Kevin Rudd says is a crucial step to breaking China's worrying hold on the sector. Rudd, who is now Australia's ambassador to the US, said Australian mining expertise and a burgeoning critical minerals processing industry, backed by billions in government subsidies, put the country in a good position to support President Donald Trump's bid to ensure the US has a stable supply of minerals needed for defence and technology uses.
ABC News
14 minutes ago
- ABC News
Consumers left in the dark about steep hikes to insurance premium
When Michele Vanderlanh Smith discovered her annual home and contents insurance premium had jumped by 600 per cent, she thought it must have been a mistake. In just 12 months, Westpac's insurance arm, underwritten by Allianz, had lifted her premium from $728.16 to $5,345.88. Living on the first floor of an inner-city Sydney apartment block, not prone to flooding, she said she couldn't believe the explanation her contents insurer gave. "The [contents] insurer basically justified the $5,000 increase by saying that my property's a flood risk," she told ABC News. "And, based on their national modelling and commercially sensitive information, et cetera, I wasn't entitled to have access to that data." In contrast, her the cost of her building's strata insurance had barely moved. Westpac's insurance arm also argued she had "consented" to the new premium because her payments were set to automatically debit. When Ms Vanderlanh Smith said she had only set up automatic payments while working overseas because she could not access her mail during this time, the insurer would not budge. Instead, she was told she would need to obtain a hydrologist's report at her own expense, if she wanted to challenge the premium increase. Julia Davis from the Financial Rights Legal Centre said households are facing steep hikes with little or no explanation. "It's impossible for consumers to know if they're being charged a fair price," she said. "The pricing algorithms insurers use are commercial in confidence — it is a total black box. "If your premium doubles from one year to the next, it's really hard to understand whether or not you are paying a fair price." The centre's Insurance Law Service takes 100–150 calls a week, often from people reporting premium increases of 30–50 per cent. Some callers, like Ms Vanderlanh Smith, have faced rises of several hundred per cent. "Insurers say they're not price gouging," Ms Davis said. "But again, they don't share any tailored information with their customers about individual risk on people's homes." She said the law centre sees examples every day of "insurers simply not meeting community expectations". "We're still getting calls from people whose claims haven't been appropriately handled in the 2022 floods. "Now people from Cyclone Alfred are experiencing significant delays, or their vulnerability hasn't been identified. This is commonplace." The frustration comes as Australia's biggest insurers post bumper profits, fuelled by years of premium increases and a relatively quiet year for natural disasters. The ACCC's latest monitoring report found the government's cyclone reinsurance pool has moderated price rises in cyclone-prone areas, but across much of the country premiums remain high and continue to climb. Craig Bennett, director at S&P Global Ratings, said ASX-listed insurers including Suncorp, QBE and IAG were enjoying "very, very solid results". "You've seen a lot of [premium] rate rises come through in the last three to five years," he said. "They're earning through those now … that's feeding into bottom-line results." But he warned affordability pressures were mounting for insurance customers. "You've seen price increases well over, probably, three times the rate of growth of wages over the last three to five years. Consumer groups have argued households are right to question whether they are paying fair prices — or simply funding big returns for shareholders. But Ms Davis said customers unhappy with premium hikes have limited recourse. The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) does not have the power to decide whether an insurer has charged an accurate premium. "Really, as lawyers, mostly what we tell people is that you need to shop around. It's completely up to an insurer how they price you," she said. AFCA will occasionally investigate if an insurer fails to explain a sudden increase, but "very few of those complaints ever make it through". Even then, she said, "an insurer can provide a lot of detailed information to AFCA that the complainant will never be allowed to see". That was the case for Ms Vanderlanh Smith when she took Allianz to AFCA. The complaints body refused to release the modelling Allianz used to justify the increase, then sided with the insurer, noting it had limited jurisdiction and there was no evidence of an error in calculating the premium. In response to questions from the ABC, Allianz said it could not comment on individual cases but defended its approach. "In these cases, it was necessary to adjust premiums to accurately reflect the updated flood risk assessment and ensure adequate coverage." Consumer advocates are pushing for systemic reform, including an independent national price monitor and guaranteed discounts for home owners who invest in resilience upgrades. "We want to see big uplifts in transparency," Ms Davis said. "They want to know which of those risks are changing, how they've been priced and whether that pricing is fair. "Most of our wealth and most of our retirement planning is wrapped up in our homes, and that means that adequate insurance coverage for our homes is more and more an essential service," Ms Davis said. "And when something becomes an essential service, we think that means it deserves better pricing oversight," she said. Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall said some insurers already offer discounts for home improvements, but he rejected calls for a national price monitor and the idea insurers are profiteering. Instead, he pointed to state taxes, which he said can add hundreds of dollars to average premiums. "We could employ hundreds of public servants to be looking at prices every day, but I would rather see tax reform happen in this country. "I would rather see money being invested in risk reduction so that homes are built in safe locations and allow insurance to get on and do what it does best, which is be there for when the unexpected happens." He also urged consumers to shop around. "It's a very competitive market in Australia," he said, predicting premiums would begin to ease in line with inflation. "What we are seeing globally is the cost of reinsurance moderating and in some areas reduce," Mr Hall said. "I suspect what we will see in the coming 12 to 18 months, bar another large weather event, is insurers putting more effort into acquiring customers — and that will be a good thing in terms of pricing." The ABC asked Suncorp, QBE and IAG whether they were price gouging. All three said they recognised household cost pressures but insisted premiums are set on risk, and called for greater investment in mitigation. Despite finding at least three other insurers offering the same coverage for as little as $1,000 — one-fifth of Allianz's price — Ms Vanderlanh Smith said the burden shouldn't fall on consumers to avoid overpaying. "It's an easy thing to say to people when you don't want the accountability," she said. "There is no price transparency and no simple way to compare premiums. "Insurers are supposed to protect you from disaster, but they're becoming the disaster."
AU Financial Review
31 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
ASX to edge up, S&P 500 pares early losses
Australian shares are set for a modest opening advance. In contrast, tech selling persisted on Wall Street and the S&P 500 initially tumbled led by the sector that's propelled the rally from early April. Still, the tide turned during the session and Wall Street significantly pared its losses with the Dow turning mildly positive late. Nerves are fraying in part because of a renewed attack on the Federal Reserve by President Donald Trump and his allies, as well as uncertainty before a key speech by Fed chairman Jerome Powell on Friday (Saturday AEST). Most Federal Reserve officials highlighted the risk to inflation as outweighing concerns over the labour market at their meeting last month, as tariffs fuelled a growing divide within the central bank's rate-setting committee, Bloomberg reported. Officials acknowledged worries over higher inflation and weaker employment, but 'a majority of participants judged the upside risk to inflation as the greater of these two risks,' the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's July 29-30 meeting said. Market highlights ASX 200 futures are pointing up 22 points or 0.3 per cent to 8901. All US prices near 3.55pm New York time. Today's agenda NZ will release July trade data at 8.45am AEST, while August PMIs are expected from Australia at 9.30am AEST, then through the day Japan, the UK, Eurozone and the US. Australian August consumer inflation expectations are set for release at 11am AEST. Late Thursday, weekly US jobless claims will be released and the Fed's Jackson Hole, Wyoming three-day gathering of global central bankers begins. The full agenda of the Fed gathering, sponsored by the Kansas City Fed, will be available at on Thursday at 8pm Eastern US time (10am AEST Friday) Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks will be streamed on the Kansas City Fed's YouTube channel, on Friday, August 22, at 10am Eastern US time (12am AEST Saturday). Top stories Children with mild autism removed from NDIS to fix the budget | The government is taking budget repair seriously, announcing plans to rein in the ballooning costs of the NDIS and tackling the pension deeming rate. Push to give 2m office workers a WFH 'bias' | In a major test case that will set the standard for white-collar workers, unions want to extend Commonwealth WFH rights to the private sector. | Treasurer Jim Chalmers has said he will consider adjusting the test to remove barriers for long-term investments in housing and clean energy.
