News
As expected, the Federal Budget has included an 18 week paid parental leave at the minimum wage, amounting to roughly $540 a week and will be available for women earning less that $150,000 a year. The scheme is expected to be implemented in 2011 and has been welcomed by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick who […]
In a blow to small business, the Government have delivered cuts to superannuation tax concessions in the Federal Budget, expecting to save more than $1 billion next year by halving limits on tax-deductible contributions, and reining back on its co-contribution scheme. The Government will halve the maximum limit on concessional contributions from $100,000 to $50,000 […]
The latest private health insurance rebate scheme delivered in the Federal Budget has been a blow for high income earners, as they face $1000 a year increase in health insurance payments, with the government tapering the 30 percent rebate for the wealthy. The rebate will start to reduce for couples with incomes of $150,000 (singles […]
After months of speculation that the boost to the first home owners grant was due to expire on June 30, the government has delivered a welcome surprise for first home owners, extending the grant until December 31. The first home owners grant was lifted from $7,000 to $14,000 for existing dwellings and from $14,000 to […]
Pensioners have been given a boost in the Federal Budget with the pension for single people raised to $32.49 a week, while couples will have their pensions increased by $10.14 a week. However, they will have to work an extra two years in order to be eligible, with the pension age increased from 65 to […]
I was watching “Talking about your Generation” last week and it got me thinking about the constant generational battle that seems to play itself out in the media and in the workplace. It was quite a funny show, with a few Gen Y insults thrown in for good measure. Normally I don’t mind a bit […]
Last week we saw the announcement of winner of “the best job in the world” up in Queensland. What a great job. $150,000 for six months “work” telling the world how beautiful it is staying on those beautiful tropical islands. What a lucky “you-know-what.” That was one of the great marketing campaigns. The whole world […]
Australian and New Zealand cities rank among the best in the world for quality of life, according to the latest results from the 2009 Worldwide Quality of Living Survey, conducted by a global HR company Mercer. Robert Knox, Head of Mercer’s information product solutions business, said that economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region outstrips most […]
The predicted unemployment rate could have been up to 10 percent without the Federal Government’s two stimulus measures announced Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, after receiving advice from Treasury figures. “This Treasury advice finds that if the Government had done nothing, national unemployment in Australia would have been forecast to reach 10 percent,” said Rudd. “This […]
A survey conducted by credit reporting firm Dun and Bradstreet reveals that 28 percent of businesses expect to cut staff by the end of the September quarter, despite a rise in sales and profit expectations since the last survey. More than half of the businesses surveyed indicated that movements in the Australian dollar in foreign […]
Treasurer Wayne Swan will tonight announce the highly anticipated and talked about May 2009 budget. High on the agenda: a paid maternity leave scheme, pension increase, means testing for private health insurance rebates, and the removal of the boost to the first home owners grant. In his pre-budget doorstop meeting in Canberra this morning, Treasurer […]
Today is the official launch day for the Australian-developed polling site, The Global Poll, with the stimulus package and swine flu hot topics. The Global Poll website has been designed to allow any person or business to reach a global group of opinion leaders and gain valuable market research, by conducting free online polls. The […]
The latest findings from Symantec’s 2009 Global Small and Mid-sized Business (SMB) Security and Storage survey for Australia and New Zealand has revealed that more than half (58 percent) of small and medium sized businesses have experienced security breaches where personal information is lost, stolen or hacked. The results highlight the problems small businesses are […]
The NSW Government is currently in the process of considering extending its $3,000 first-home owners grant, after it was reported they were planning to scrap it. The Government announced the scheme in November last year for first-home buyers who purchase a new or newly construction home within a year, with the scheme expected to expire […]
International trade is part of the solution to the global food crisis, not one of its causes, said World Trade Organisation director-general Pascal Lamy. Lamy said trade enabled food to be transported from areas where it could be produced efficiently to areas of demand. “International trade was not the source of last year’s food crisis. […]
The global economy is showing signs of a recovery according to the G10. European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet said that we are at a turning point, “we are, as far as growth is concerned, around the inflection point in the cycle.” ‘In all cases we see a slowing down of the decrease of the […]
It seems the uptake of digital television has been slower that expected, with new figures showing more than half of Australian households haven’t yet embraced digital television. Measurement company OzTam says that as of March this year, around 43 percent of households across the five major cities were connected up to digital television, with Perth […]
A survey released yesterday by Essential Research regarding the Federal Budget has revealed that Australians are generally mixed in their reviews about the effect the budget will have on them, and how effective the Government’s measures on tax cuts and emissions trading will be. The survey found that 38 percent believe the Federal Budget will […]
Universities Australia has called on the Government to boost funding to the sector, ahead of the May budget announcement tomorrow. According to a study commissioned by Universities Australia and conducted by KPMG, an $11 billion boost to higher education funding by 2040 would generate an additional $137.8 billion in gross domestic product, including an extra […]
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has just released its figures for short-term visitors to Australia in March, showing a 0.9 percent increase in tourism on the previous month. This is the third consecutive rise in arrivals, with January and February both recording a one percent rise, and is 0.7 percent up on last year’s visitor […]
