Australians are being overcharged up to $6 billion (US$4.01 billion) for car spaces they don’t use, worsening housing affordability and parking availability. A new study from RMIT University has found unbundling parking from new apartments could save people who don’t own cars tens of thousands of dollars and free up parking spots for those who…

Boosting productivity in service industries such as education and health will be central to shoring up Australia’s future prosperity. In a major, five-yearly report, the Productivity Commission offers a long list of recommendations to get sluggish productivity growth moving. This includes a future-income-based university funding model and phasing out fuel taxes in favour of a…

Australian households are bearing the brunt of the central bank’s determination to stuff the inflation genie back into its bottle, but not so much that business is suffering. Companies—particularly those in the manufacturing, accommodation and food, financial and insurance services, and professional service sectors—are bringing home the bacon on the back of robust trading conditions….

Commentary The year 2022 was the Golden Jubilee of the election of Gough Whitlam’s government, as well as the inaugural year of Anthony Albanese’s. Whitlam faced similar economic challenges to Albanese and had some strikingly similar solutions, leading some to expect Albanese will emulate him and crash and burn within three years. I’m not so…

Australia will host a key upcoming international naval exercise for the first time as the government hails the strength of its relationship with India. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed the defence operation as Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen stressed the need for greater regional security in clean energy supply chains. For the past…

Commentary Home buyers and businesses are suffering sticker shock as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lifted the official cash rate from 0.1 percent to 3.35 percent in the course of the nine months since April 2022. But they should probably be thinking of rates of this level as the “new normal.” Assuming lenders pass…

Commentary Home buyers and businesses are suffering sticker shock as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lifted the official cash rate from 0.1 percent to 3.35 percent in the course of the nine months since April 2022. But they should probably be thinking of rates of this level as the “new normal.” Assuming lenders pass…

An expert says that affordable rental housing and increased funding for homelessness services are necessary to solve Australia’s rental crisis as the country’s rental market continues to face unprecedented pressure. Professor Nicole Gurran, University of Sydney chair of urbanism and housing expert, on Jan. 17 said housing is an issue that needs to be tackled by all…

All eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia this week to see how it’s factoring in recent strong wages and jobs data, ahead of its next interest rate meeting in December. At its board meeting earlier this month, the central bank floated the near term possibility of keeping the cash rate steady at…

Australia’s peak employer association welcomed the commitments in the budget but said it failed to target the country’s structural economic challenges. Innes Willox, CEO of the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), said the budget’s contribution to the productivity agenda was limited to positive initiatives that would boost the workforce over time. “Today’s federal budget risks…