Money Matters: Your end-of-financial-year to-do list
03:12 What the experts suggest doing at the end of the financial year (EOFY).
06:57 Your blue chip stocks are at an all time high. What should you do with them?
14:21 Capital gains tax, death and gifting.
Money Matters is your weekly guide to the world of finance, money and wealth. Every Thursday, an expert joins Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth for a insights about personal finance issues and how they might affect you.
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ABC News
28 minutes ago
- ABC News
Labor seeks to legislate to protect penalty rates for award workers
Workers employed under the award system could not have penalty or overtime rates bargained away under new government legislation to be introduced in the House of Representatives today. The bill is a response to a proposal from the retail employer lobby to allow some low-paid retail managers to opt out of those entitlements in exchange for a 35 per cent pay rise, a matter currently before the Fair Work umpire. The Albanese government took the unusual step of making a submission to Fair Work, arguing that pay loadings in awards were a safety net for low-paid workers and should be protected, and had foreshadowed legislation to override the matter. The bill would prevent Fair Work from varying any award to reduce or substitute either overtime or penalty rates, which Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth said would protect the "safety net" for Australia's 2.6 million award workers, roughly one in every five of the total number employed. "Hard-working Australians rely on penalty rates and overtime rates to keep their heads above water, which is why this bill is so critical," she said. The award system, which sets out minimum pay and conditions for all workers in certain sectors, has declined in usage over time as the alternative approach of bargaining has grown, but it remains common for staff in retail, hospitality, and the care sector. The proposal to vary the retail award applied to store managers earning between roughly $54,000 and $62,000, and was backed by Coles, Woolworths, Kmart, and Costco. The legislation is likely to draw frustration from industry groups and support from unions and the Greens, although a party spokeswoman told the ABC it had not made a decision yet. Shadow Industrial Relations Minister Tim Wilson said the Coalition had been briefed on the bill, and is not yet guaranteeing his party's support either. "When it comes down to it, we have concerns about making sure it doesn't hurt small businesses. "When the Minister was asked whether it was going to have impact on small business, she gave a very explicit firm commitment that it wouldn't. "But we are not going to know that until we have a clear consultation with small business." The issue also dovetails with ongoing discussions about how workplace contracts should accommodate working-from-home rights. Fair Work is considering that question in the context of the award for clerical and administrative workers, and business groups have argued that those given the right to work flexibly should not be entitled to overtime or weekend pay loading, since they can choose when they want to do their work. Unions have instead suggested the right to work from home should be presumed unless an employer can offer a compelling justification for refusing it. Depending on the details, a bill protecting penalty rates and overtime rates in all circumstances for award workers could prevent Fair Work from adopting the business groups' suggestions. The government has given some indication that it may consider legislating work-from-home rights, but has not suggested it favours any particular model for doing so.
ABC News
28 minutes ago
- ABC News
Wallabies look for another golden moment against British and Irish Lions
With the Tom Richards Cup on the line, the Wallabies will be counting on the golden army turning out in Melbourne, where rugby union carved out its own slice of history 24 years ago. In 2001, Australian rugby's governing body was stung into action by the red sea of Lions supporters, who flooded the opening Test in Brisbane, leaving the Wallabies feeling like they were at Cardiff Arms Park rather than the Gabba. Follow the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia on ABC Sport, including live blogs of all three Tests against the Wallabies. And they played like it, with the 1999 World Cup champions crashing down to earth with a 29-13 thud. "I was sitting there looking for glimpses of gold because it was a sea of red and then they started singing … so on and off the field, we got absolutely smashed, which was a massive wake-up call, and the media gave it to us with both barrels and said we'd let Australia down," former ARU (now Rugby Australia) boss John O'Neill told AAP. "We decided we really had to make sure the series was really competitive, at least 1-1 after Melbourne, and we had to make sure Wallabies supporters were seen and heard." With only a week before game two, Australian rugby set about "golding" the Docklands Stadium, and ironically, it was paid for in British pounds. A British tour operator had bought tickets that were meant to be sold in Australia, which the ARU looked to cancel due to the breach of contract. Brian Thorburn, then general manager of commercial operations, told AAP he smartly re-sold the tickets back to the operator at a higher price. "We basically said to the agent, 'Well, we've got sympathy for the 300 people you've sold to, but the facts are that you've got them cheap and outside the contract, so we'll sell them back to you at double the price,'" Thorburn recalled. "The profit we made essentially paid for all of the gold at both the Melbourne Test and the Sydney Test, so it was quite ironic that a British travel agent paid for all the gold." The ARU's marketing team brainstormed ways to make the Melbourne venue feel like home for the Wallabies — even trialling golden goal posts with kicker Matt Burke, before it was decided they were too distracting. "We put 'Go Wallabies' placards on every seat in the lower bowl, and we had 10,000 very flimsy gold scarves, which was all we could secure with three days' notice," Thorburn said. "We ensured every square inch of available signage was gold — we had a catch-cry of 'Be Bold, Wear Gold', and it was really a turning point." While they achieved their gold rush aesthetic, not everyone was happy — in particular the AFL, which was the ground's tenant, now owner. "We got these mylar cannons, and they blasted as the teams ran on and as we scored any try, and the result was gold glitter coming all over the crowd and on top of Poms drinking their beer," Thorburn said. "The CEO of the stadium, Ian Collins, gave me grief for years because they were still getting glitter out of the grass two or three years later because it was so small." The AFL could also be suitably miffed by the size of the crowd at the stadium for the second Test, with 56,605 squeezed into a venue that had a capacity of 56,347 — with the AFL's biggest ever crowd 54,444, set in 2009 at a St Kilda-Geelong match. Rugby's 2001 attendance record stood until the second 2013 Lions match, when 56,771 fans crammed in. This Saturday's second Test will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with a capacity of 100,024. At least 90,000 fans are expected to pack into the famous stadium, which would surpass the current Wallabies-Lions record of 84,188 set at Stadium Australia in 2001. While swathes of supporters will attend to support the tourists, it is something which this current Lions group is not taking for granted. The last tour was in 2021 to South Africa, played in front of no fans as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to plague the globe. After winning the first Test in Brisbane last Saturday, Irish prop Tadhg Furlong spoke to the media about what it meant to see thousands of people in red, supporting the Lions and rugby. "Class," Furlong said about the support in Brisbane. "Even the town … Thursday it filled up, you can feel it, everyone wears red. "I'm sure Canterbury [the jersey maker] are delighted with the sales of the stuff. Everyone seems to be wearing the kit, they wear their club hat or whatever. "It's why the Lions is special, it's not lost on us." AAP/ABC
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Rental price growth slows in Australian capital cities, Cotality data shows
There is new evidence that rental price growth is easing, potentially putting downward pressure on inflation and interest rates. The increase in national rental values over the three months to June was the slowest second-quarter increase since 2020, according to Cotality's latest Quarterly Rental Review. Its research also showed the annual change in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney dwelling rents came in below their pre-COVID decade averages in June, at 1.2 per cent, 1.6 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively. Annual rental growth was higher in Perth, at 4.9 per cent, and Adelaide, at 4.7 per cent, but eased over the quarter. However, Brisbane's annual rental growth trend accelerated from 3.1 per cent in March to 3.8 per cent in June. Darwin recorded the strongest annual increase in dwelling rents, up 6.2 per cent, followed by Hobart, up 5.3 per cent, with both cities seeing a notable acceleration in rents compared to this time last year. The median rental price increase in Australia is now about $22 a week, or $1,134 a year, Cotality noted in its report. Hobart is Australia's most affordable city to rent. It is the only capital city with a rental value under $600, at $581 a week, although the typical income in Tasmania is also lower than across most of the mainland. The property research firm, formerly known as CoreLogic, said rental price growth was easing despite a chronic demand and supply imbalance, with rental supply remaining "exceptionally low". Cotality economist Kaytlin Ezzy said there were 100,000 rental listings nationally over the four weeks to June 29, which was about 23 per cent below the previous five-year average, or about 29,000 fewer listings than usual at this time of year. AMP deputy chief economist Diana Mousina said slower inflation and a reduction in interest rates were helping to ease rental price growth, which peaked in early 2024. She said some renters also appeared to have a little more power in their negotiations with landlords. "Recent government changes in states like New South Wales have strengthened tenancy law, which should be a positive for renters," she said. Ms Ezzy said lower rental price growth was also due to lower demand for rental accommodation, caused by the "normalisation of net overseas migration" and a "rise in average household size". Independent economist Saul Eslake said lower rental price growth could lead to a reduction in inflation, which would support the case for an August Reserve Bank interest rate cut. "Rents have been one of the most significant contributors to inflation, and in particular to services inflation, over the past five years," he said. "So, evidence that rent inflation is declining is much to be welcomed as pointing to improved prospects of inflation staying within the RBA's 2 to 3 per cent target band, and hence increasing the prospects of further reductions in interest rates." Independent economist Sherman Chan said rents made up 6.6 per cent of the CPI basket and had been one of the key contributors to the increase in housing costs in recent quarters. "A slowdown in rental increase would be welcome news not just for tenants, but also for market watchers hoping to see inflation stay within the RBA target band," she said. Oxford Economics Australia lead economist Maree Kilroy said the latest rental price data also offered a silver lining for home owners with loans. "Given the lags involved, softer growth is anticipated, which, alongside other CPI components, will temper inflation, and we forecast two further cash rate cuts before the end of the year," she said. The disproportionate increase in rents compared to wages has seen the portion of pre-tax income directed to rental payments rise from about 26 per cent in June 2020 to just under 33 per cent in December 2024, according to Cotality.
