Good morning AusCorp. Would you give up $50K a year to never commute again? This week, we ran the numbers on working from home versus five days in the office, just to see if it’s really worth it.
We’re also taking submissions for our 2026 Employee Benefits Survey so if you’re keen on contributing to what we’re thinking will be an AusCorp Encyclopedia, the survey is live HERE. It takes about 5 minutes, most of it is already filled in so you won’t need to remember every detail of your package, and there’s a section on culture where you can tell us what your workplace is really like.
Last week we asked whether you’d send your kids to a public or private school. 54% of you said you would and 46% of you voted public school.
THE BIG CONVERSATION
$200K to be in the office full time, or $150K to be fully remote?
After tax, the gap between the two options is about $30K, and that’s before you’ve paid for transport fares or fuel, parking, lunches and work clothes. Then there’s the commute itself. An hour each way adds up to about 460 hours a year, which is roughly 12 extra working weeks spent getting to and from the office, so a big part of that $50K is really just paying you for the travel. If you’ve got kids it hurts a little more, because a higher income cuts your childcare subsidy, and you’re also giving up the daycare drop off and the school pick up.
Fully remote comes with its own problems. But the people who thrive working at home, usually have rich lives outside of work, their social battery doesn’t need the office for social interaction or the time saved from commuting goes towards a more balanced lifestyle. For a lot of people, the reality is an empty house, zero boundaries between work and home, and a workday that blends well into the night.
As much as everyone hates to say it, optics matter. Our latest survey data shows that 40% of fully remote workers have been stuck at the same level for three years or more, compared to just 22% of full-time office workers. Whether those WFH full time want career progression or not, proximity bias is real. The best projects and promotions will likely go to the people who put in the face time. And when redundancies roll around, it is brutally easy for management to cut a name on a screen instead of someone they know of.
Depending on where you are in your career, remote work is completely fine, especially if you’re raising kids or focusing on a side hustle. Flexibility has just become a currency and a work perk. Employers know that skipping a commute or getting an extra day off is worth real money to you, and with any trade, they’ll just price your salary and trajectory accordingly.
PICK & SCROLL BY THE AUSSIE CORPORATE | LAST WEEK'S TOP PICKS
HCF, which insures 2.1 million Australians, says the average overnight psychiatric admission costs the fund more than $15,500, with the most serious mental health disorders generating claims of $23,774 per patient, on par with knee and hip replacements. LINK
Median rents across Australia rose 5.5% over the year to September to reach $713 per week, while property prices were flat after 6 months of falls, and in one in 10 suburbs and towns repayments are now less than $200 a week higher than rent. LINK
Woolworths, Coles and ALDI ran out of bananas at stores across the country after cooler weather in Far North Queensland slowed the growth of Cavendish bananas. LINK
Intelligence agencies calculate the international scam economy is now bigger than the illegal drugs trade, run by offshore networks using AI to dupe victims faster and at greater scale. LINK
Sydney has run out of electricity capacity for new data centres, with developers told in August the grid is sold out and they'll need to pay for network expansions themselves if they want to plug in. LINK
Flat White lands every week. The news doesn't. Every weekday morning at 8:00am, we send you everything that happened across Australian business and corporate news in a 2-minute read. Same team. Same voice. Just daily.
THE INSIDE TRACK
THREAD OF THE WEEK - r/AUSCORP
How much time off do people usually take in a full time role?
Hey everyone, I'm 21 and am 6 months into my first full time corporate role after uni. It's going well, I enjoy the work and everyone I work with is easy to get along with and relatively flexible, including my manager. This is my first full time contracted job with annual leave, sick leave etc. so I wanted to know how do people go about taking their time off?
“Take every bit of leave you can, mate. Life is for living. I've regularly taken 5/6 week holidays throughout my corporate career. I usually break it up over the year but yeah, in the last 7 years I've taken four 6-week stints to travel”
Top Comment
THE BRAINS TRUST
Over the past year, the companies that make your groceries have had to give Woolworths and Coles a bigger cut of every sale just to keep their products on the shelves. The competition watchdog has already found that Woolworths and Coles make more money from groceries than almost any supermarket in the world, including Walmart and Tesco, and this only adds to it.
Most of the specials you see on the shelves are paid for by suppliers, plus fees to get their products stocked in the first place. Now they’re giving up even more just to keep their spot on the shelf. Shoppers are hunting for specials harder than ever, which pushes the supermarkets towards lower everyday prices.
UBS tracked 60,000 grocery prices at Coles and Woolworths and found prices rose just 0.7% in the July to September quarter, down from 1.5% the quarter before. Part of the reason your weekly shop feels a bit easier right now is that suppliers are covering the difference. The ABS has food prices up around 3% over the year, so some categories are still climbing faster than others.
UBS expects prices to start rising again from early 2027. The average household grocery bill has already gone up about $936 a year over the past three years, to roughly $178 a week. The one thing that could change the picture is Amazon. Its everyday essentials range in Australia grew more than 30% in the past year, and it’s building a $750 million robotic warehouse in Brisbane. A third option makes it a lot harder for the big two to keep squeezing anyone, suppliers or shoppers.
OFF THE CLOCK
GOING
The best Halloween events in Sydney for 2026
Halloween is coming up, and Sydney is getting ready for a weekend of spooky celebrations. From haunted experiences to themed parties, there’s plenty happening around the city for anyone keen to get into the Halloween spirit. LINK
EATING
Sydney's Tuscan wine bar worth knowing about
Natural wine, small plates and the kind of room that makes you feel like you found it before everyone else did. LINK
READING
What is Australia’s best book? The experts pick their favourites
Australia’s Top 100 Books was revealed this weekend, with readers voting for their all-time favourites. LINK
WATCHING
The Muhammad Ali series trailer is here
Prime Video's prestige Ali series looks like the kind of thing people will be referencing for months. LINK
WEARING
The best Australian swimwear brands on the market
Summer is just around the corner, and these Australian swimwear brands are worth having on your radar, from Peony’s floral prints to Sir.’s simple, timeless designs. LINK
AUSCORP EVENTS
AusCorp Puppy Yoga x Doga Sydney event
AusCorp Runs x Sneaker Laundry LAB | Melbourne
Wednesday 4th November 2026, 7:00AM Register here
ODD PICKS FROM LAST WEEK
This Olympic river has crocodiles in it - but that's not the main concern. LINK
'The spine just wants to move': How to strengthen your neck. LINK
Why it’s easy to eat 30 plants a week. LINK
Blood sugar spikes are not necessarily bad for you. LINK
Overuse of AI in classrooms risks "cognitive outsourcing" that undermines students' foundational knowledge and lifelong learning. LINK
FEEDBACK LOOP | SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
If you have want to provide more detailed feedback or have any topics that you want to hear more about, you can let us know HERE.
