June 17
News
02 August 2017 |
SMH
The average
mortgage burden on home owners aged under 40 doubled between 2002 and 2014 leaving them especially vulnerable to rising interest rates, a leading household survey shows.
The latest instalment of the respected Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, released on Wednesday, demonstrates how high house prices are affecting the lives of young people in Australia's big cities.
01 August 2017 |
SMH
A $1
billion concessional loan to the controversial Adani Carmichael mine project in Queensland's Galilee Basin could expose taxpayers to a high risk of losing their money, according to an independent business analysis.
31 July 2017 |
SMH
Huge queues of people snaked out Sydney Airport's domestic terminal T2 on Monday morning as passengers experienced lengthy waits to check in to their flights.
Crowds also gathered in the baggage claim area with the wait attributed to extra security after an alleged plot to bring down a flight was uncovered.
27 July 2017 |
Kelly Hughes
In 2015, Australian fast food burger chain Grill’d was investigated for wage underpayment and hiring staff on outdated employment agreements.
The scrutiny came when former Melbourne Grill’d employee Kahlani Pyrah took the company to court, over allegations she was being paid below the award wage and was unfairly dismissed.
27 July 2017 |
The Guardian
Followin
g yet another wage fraud scandal – this time at restaurant chain, Dainty Sichuan – a recent newspaper editorial contended that, “Further layers of workplace regulation are not the solution to wage fraud.” Instead, it argued in favour of stronger enforcement of existing laws. The editorial could not be more wrong.
12 July 2017 |
The Independent
Drinking aro
und three cups of coffee a day has been linked to a lower risk of death “from any cause” in two new large-scale studies.
The habits of coffee-lovers were shown to add years to their life – with high coffee consumption shown to reduce the risk of death from diseases related to circulation and digestion in particular.
07 July 2017 |
ABC
South 
Australia will be home to the world's largest lithium ion battery thanks to a historic agreement between Tesla and the State Government, with Tesla boss Elon Musk promising to build it in 100 days, or it's free.
05 July 2017 |
The Age
Retireme
nt is often called the "golden years". If you read the marketing of the large companies that operate retirement villages you'd be led to believe that it's all lawn bowls, cocktails and luxury. The reality can be very different.
As one retiree recently told us: "When I moved in, the reason for that place's existence was residents. Now it's reason for existence is shareholders and there is a huge amount of distrust."
29 June 2017 |
The Age
Wake
up and smell the coffee, Melbourne. We are literally surrounded by great cafes. In this sneak peek from the first national Good Food Guide, here are the 20 cafes we're calling the year's best.
29 June 2017 |
SMH
The cor
porate watchdog has been called on to investigate recent trading of Aveo’s shares ahead of the company announcing a $145 million buy back this week.
Investment specialists have called on the corporate watchdog to investigate recent trading of Aveo's shares by its largest shareholder Mulpha and a director ahead of the company's announcement of a $145 million buyback this week.
27 June 2017 |
The Age
“The reason they had me forcibly admitted to the Biala Un
it, which is a psychiatric department ... was to punish me, was to shut me up, was to silence me with drugs.”
It was June 23, 2009, when Gwyneth Jones was admitted to a psychiatric ward after complaints about her behaviour at Aveo retirement village The George in one of Melbourne’s bayside suburbs.
24 June 2017 |
Geoff Richards quietly closed the front door of his unit for the last time. The legal letters had been signed, non-disparagement clauses agreed, and the retirement village operator Aveo was about to have its day.
Slowly walking down the path with his dog, Tosh, the crumpled 80-year-old glanced back one last time.
23 June 2017 |
The Age
The Turnbull government is considering a bounty-style reward worth millions of dollars for those who blow the whistle on corruption or unethical behaviour at the hands of multibillion-dollar corporations.
Finance Minister Kelly O'Dwyer will on Friday announce measures intended to tighten legislation to give compensation to whistleblowers to stop their "unacceptable treatment" following a series of damning Fairfax Media investigations into the banking and service sectors.
21 June 2017 |
SMH
Rebel government backbencher George Christensen has crossed the floor and voted with Labor to protect workers' penalty rates, in an embarrassing blow to the Turnbull government.
It is extremely rare for MPs to cross the floor and vote against their own side, but Mr Christensen's move has been a long time coming, as he has threatened to do so on previous occasions.
19 June 2017 |
AFR
Car leasing giant McMillan Shakespeare is to be hit with an $80 million class action alleging unfair and unconscionable conduct and misleading and deceptive conduct in its extended car warranty business NWC.
The Australian Financial Review can reveal that the class action will be funded by global litigation funder Vannin Capital and law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan will file the action next month.
19 June 2017 |
The Age
One o
f Labor's biggest backers, the giant shop assistants union, will be subject to a parliamentary inquiry over wage deals that have cost workers hundreds of millions of dollars.
The new Senate probe is a response to the wages scandal revealed by Fairfax Media involving deals between some of Australia's largest employers, including McDonald's, Coles and Woolworths and the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association (SDA).
16 June 2017 |
The Age
The Commonwealth Bank's compensation bill for victims of bad financial advice has risen to $29 million.
But customers who were knocked back from the scheme say it was flawed to begin with and have welcomed a push in the Senate for commission of inquiry into the banks.
15 June 2017 |
SMH
Ten N
etwork Holdings isn't dead yet, but it's on life support with administrators appointed. Should an autopsy be conducted, Murdoch fingerprints and DNA will be found all over the body.
12 June 2017 |
SMH
Jane* w
ent to a "very gung-ho" all-girls Sydney high school where she was told "you can do anything" and "one of you will be the first female prime minister of Australia". She spent long hours climbing the corporate ladder while her two kids were in childcare or being looked after by a nanny. She has worked in banking, telecommunications, IT and the public service. But now, nearing 50 and with three degrees – two of them at masters level – she is exasperated at how hard it has been to get ahead as a woman in the workforce.
08 June 2017 |
AFR
Exto
rtion, blackmail, cash back scams and slavery are happening every day under our noses. It is also happening in the supply chains of businesses, either through labour hire companies, or suppliers.
Under new legislation to be proposed by the federal opposition on Monday, big business will be forced to clamp down on slavery in their supply chains by reporting publicly – and annually – all efforts to identify and stop slavery.
01 June 2017 |
The Australian
ASIC bo
ss Greg Medcraft says the big banks and wealth management industry have used poor record-keeping to “hide a trail” of questionable financial advice.
Mr Medcraft, who finishes his term at the Australian Securities & Investments Commission in November, also hit out at the vertically integrated business model of the big lenders, arguing that cross-selling wealth, advice and insurance products was “not a viable business strategy any more”.