Latest news with #AustraliaInstitute
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Sydney Morning Herald
You're paid to cycle to work in France and the Netherlands. Sydney could be next
Sydney commuters would be paid to ride an e-bike or e-scooter to work under a European-inspired financial incentive scheme being assessed by the NSW government, in a bid to promote the uptake of electric-powered devices on streets across the state. Financial incentives for e-micromobility devices were proposed in a secret internal document circulated by a senior government bureaucrat in October, three days before then-transport minister Jo Haylen announced a pathway for the legalising of e-scooters on public roads. Among the sweeteners suggested were a tax incentive that would allow riders to claim a per-kilometre allowance for each commute, which could replicate successful schemes applied in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, with the latter country observing cycling participation more than doubled in the second year of the program. Transport for NSW projected that e-bike riders would undertake four additional trips every month with the backing of the financial incentive, while e-scooters, which would be made legal subject to the passing of legislation later this year, would be used on six further occasions each month. 'When the conditions are right, the experience in other jurisdictions shows that financial incentives can increase ownership and ridership,' read the internal document, obtained by the Herald. 'Locally, research has shown that financial incentives would encourage people in NSW who already own a bike (including e-bikes) and e-scooters to take more trips.' The document also suggested introducing one-off rebates to offset the expense of purchasing an e-bike, mirroring schemes implemented in Queensland and Tasmania over the past two years Australia Institute research manager Morgan Harrington, who last year co-wrote a discussion paper recommending a ride-to-work cycling allowance be introduced, said fresh ideas are needed to confront transport challenges posed by rising populations and urban sprawl.
The Age
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Age
You're paid to cycle to work in France and the Netherlands. Sydney could be next
Sydney commuters would be paid to ride an e-bike or e-scooter to work under a European-inspired financial incentive scheme being assessed by the NSW government, in a bid to promote the uptake of electric-powered devices on streets across the state. Financial incentives for e-micromobility devices were proposed in a secret internal document circulated by a senior government bureaucrat in October, three days before then-transport minister Jo Haylen announced a pathway for the legalising of e-scooters on public roads. Among the sweeteners suggested were a tax incentive that would allow riders to claim a per-kilometre allowance for each commute, which could replicate successful schemes applied in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, with the latter country observing cycling participation more than doubled in the second year of the program. Transport for NSW projected that e-bike riders would undertake four additional trips every month with the backing of the financial incentive, while e-scooters, which would be made legal subject to the passing of legislation later this year, would be used on six further occasions each month. 'When the conditions are right, the experience in other jurisdictions shows that financial incentives can increase ownership and ridership,' read the internal document, obtained by the Herald. 'Locally, research has shown that financial incentives would encourage people in NSW who already own a bike (including e-bikes) and e-scooters to take more trips.' The document also suggested introducing one-off rebates to offset the expense of purchasing an e-bike, mirroring schemes implemented in Queensland and Tasmania over the past two years Australia Institute research manager Morgan Harrington, who last year co-wrote a discussion paper recommending a ride-to-work cycling allowance be introduced, said fresh ideas are needed to confront transport challenges posed by rising populations and urban sprawl.
Sydney Morning Herald
11-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
How do I protect my daughters from the ‘motherhood penalty'?
I am a 49-year-old woman who wishes I had done some things differently. I have two beautiful daughters, aged 15 and 18, whom I gave up work to raise for about a decade. My work is in marketing, and I am nowhere near back to where I was when I left. I also haven't had the career opportunities that I believe I would have otherwise. Thank goodness my husband's super is pretty good, but I have very little. My question is: how can I prevent my daughters, if they decide to have children, from being so financially (and professionally) hurt? Kathy Kathy, what you have experienced is known as the motherhood penalty. A 2023 Treasury paper called Children and the Gender Earnings Gap found women's earnings fall by an average of 55 per cent in the first five years after becoming a parent, while men's remain unchanged. This then typically creates a lifetime-earnings shortfall of $1 million, according to the Australia Institute. And because superannuation is earnings-based, it bakes in the disadvantage all the way to retirement. Take a 30-year-old woman on the median wage of around $75,000 – if she has a year off paid work (to work even harder raising a child), her projected super balance at retirement falls from $611,300 to $587,500 – a loss of $23,700, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. But that's for just one year away from the workforce. Overall, women who have retired in the past few years have done so with super balances that are 25 per cent less than those of men. So, regarding protecting your daughters, you ask the right question at the very right time (and there are solutions I will come back to for you). The great thing about super is it gives everyone automatic access to compounding, the guaranteed way to wealth. With both your daughter's and your largest earning potential is presumably ahead of you – use the super system to take full advantage. No withdrawals in your working life mean that each year you earn returns on beautiful returns on spectacular returns. And that makes for a powerful phenomenon: the earliest money you save grows the greatest amount. Now, minors can have super funds – you just set one up directly with a super manager, then choose the fund's investment mix – in general, the younger you are, the more investment risk you can afford to take and the more you can theoretically allocate to shares.
The Age
11-07-2025
- Business
- The Age
How do I protect my daughters from the ‘motherhood penalty'?
I am a 49-year-old woman who wishes I had done some things differently. I have two beautiful daughters, aged 15 and 18, whom I gave up work to raise for about a decade. My work is in marketing, and I am nowhere near back to where I was when I left. I also haven't had the career opportunities that I believe I would have otherwise. Thank goodness my husband's super is pretty good, but I have very little. My question is: how can I prevent my daughters, if they decide to have children, from being so financially (and professionally) hurt? Kathy Kathy, what you have experienced is known as the motherhood penalty. A 2023 Treasury paper called Children and the Gender Earnings Gap found women's earnings fall by an average of 55 per cent in the first five years after becoming a parent, while men's remain unchanged. This then typically creates a lifetime-earnings shortfall of $1 million, according to the Australia Institute. And because superannuation is earnings-based, it bakes in the disadvantage all the way to retirement. Take a 30-year-old woman on the median wage of around $75,000 – if she has a year off paid work (to work even harder raising a child), her projected super balance at retirement falls from $611,300 to $587,500 – a loss of $23,700, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia. But that's for just one year away from the workforce. Overall, women who have retired in the past few years have done so with super balances that are 25 per cent less than those of men. So, regarding protecting your daughters, you ask the right question at the very right time (and there are solutions I will come back to for you). The great thing about super is it gives everyone automatic access to compounding, the guaranteed way to wealth. With both your daughter's and your largest earning potential is presumably ahead of you – use the super system to take full advantage. No withdrawals in your working life mean that each year you earn returns on beautiful returns on spectacular returns. And that makes for a powerful phenomenon: the earliest money you save grows the greatest amount. Now, minors can have super funds – you just set one up directly with a super manager, then choose the fund's investment mix – in general, the younger you are, the more investment risk you can afford to take and the more you can theoretically allocate to shares.
West Australian
07-07-2025
- Health
- West Australian
‘Inescapable' social media gambling ads being pushed by influencers on teens
Young teenagers are unable to switch off from gambling ads being pushed on them by social media influencers, increasing their likelihood of financial problems later in life. Experts are warning as Generation Z use their phones more and more, the normalisation of online gambling will harm the cohort as they grow older. Curtin School of Population Health lecturer Louise Francis said there is no way for young people to avoid gambling ads as social media becomes more attached to everyday life. 'What they (teenagers) were saying is they are really inundated with gambling advertising on their social media feeds,' she said. 'They talked about it being a lot and really inescapable, that was one comment that a young person said. 'It's just there for them, and they really see it particularly in their social media feeds.' According to a March discussion paper by the Australia Institute, 30 per cent of those aged 12-17 years old gamble, spending a total of $18.4 million each year on gambling activities. Dr Francis said this generation were the first to grow up with 'unprecedented' social media access. 'They're really that first generation being exposed to this saturation of gambling advertising,' she said. 'If we don't do something now — really, we should have done something 10 years ago — it will go into the future of these young people growing into adults and not knowing any different. 'As long as we keep focus on the entertainment aspect of gambling and making it a really social and marketable activity those things can continue to cause trouble later in life.' Dr Francis said paying influencers to promote their products was often more cost effective for gambling companies. 'It's probably a cheaper way for them to reach a wider audience because they're going on the social media influencers reach and how many their people they've got,' she said. 'It is a cheap form of advertising for the gambling industry and other industries to connect in with.' Despite calls from experts for years, little has been done in the space to reduce the problem. Even the Federal Government's own 2023 'You Win Some, You Lose More' report into online gambling which handed down 31 recommendations to reform the sector has gone unanswered by legislation. Dr Francis said the Government had so far failed to act on the calls of experts. 'The government is very much attuned to the impacts on an industry and their profit margins as opposed to public health and so no, I don't think the government is doing enough,' she said. 'If they were they would have immediately accepted the 'You Win Some, You Lose More' inquiry and the 31 recommendations. 'The fact that that's dragged on for so many years is a clear indication that they're not doing enough, they don't need any more research on this, they've got the facts in front of them.'
