Catch up on this week's editions
Good morning. 61% of high-achieving students now believe AI is eroding their competitive edge at school, while nearly two-thirds say their peers are using chatbots to complete homework or take-home assessments.
Students on track for a C submit final work at an A level - and 53% now back a temporary ban on take-home tasks while schools figure out what assessment even means anymore.
NSW has already capped take-home HSC tasks at one per course after finding AI behind more than 1,000 cases of exam cheating last year.
All the headlines and more below...
RBA GOVERNOR SAYS AUSTRALIA WILL "FEEL LIKE A RECESSION" AS INFLATION COSTS HOUSEHOLDS $14,500 A YEAR
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock said the coming months will "feel like a recession" as real wages stall, house prices fall and productivity languishes. The RBA has raised the cash rate 5 times this year to address what Bullock called "domestic capacity pressures", not global oil prices. Former RBA economist Christian Baylis estimates inflation above the RBA's 2.5% midpoint since mid-2021 is costing the average household $14,500 a year.
Real household disposable income per person remains roughly 5% below its 2021 peak. The unemployment rate is forecast to drift up to 5.1% by late 2028, above the 4% range previously hoped for under the RBA's renewed focus on jobs following a Labor-commissioned review of the central bank. Women aged 35 to 49 are among the most vulnerable to inflation and interest rate rises, according to a resilience index by The Mandala Group and Zurich Australia. They typically live in outer suburbs and regional centres with a mortgage and no emergency savings.
Federal spending jumped from 24.3% of GDP in 2022-23 to 26.9% in 2025-26, the equivalent of about $70B in real extra spending every year permanently baked into the budget. The government is scrambling to find savings in its mid-year budget update in December. Much of the higher spending is permanently baked in. Any trimming will have minimal effect on inflation and interest rates over the next year.
AUSTRALIAN NEWS
The NSW government has ended mandatory BYOD requirements for public primary schools from 2027 as it moves to school-supplied devices and introduces mandatory screen-time guidelines from 2028. LINK
The combined capital city auction clearance rate stayed below 60% for a 27th straight week at 51.5% as higher interest rates, cost-of-living pressures and weak confidence curbed activity. LINK
Australian household energy costs surged as petrol rose 67% since 2019, consumer gas 49.3% and electricity 26.5%, while wholesale power prices fell 29% in 2026. AFR
Australia is on track for its highest redundancies since COVID as ABS data showed 108,300 retrenchments in July and August, driven by a slowing labour market and AI adoption. AFR
Refinancing to a different lender fell 8.8% in the year to September as younger, highly geared first home buyers face tougher serviceability tests and falling property values. LINK
More than 2.2 million Australians paid extreme specialist fees last year as some psychiatrists and paediatricians routinely charged up to triple their peers. LINK
ACCC will develop uniform national safety standards for e-bikes and related products after rising accidents cost the economy $28M a year. LINK
SEVEN AUSTRALIAN HOUSEHOLDS NOW SPEND UP TO 25% OF INCOME ON GROCERIES ALONE
Seven families showed their weekly shops as the latest interest rate hike compounds cost-of-living pressures. Basket hasn't changed but individual items have climbed sharply - cereals, rice and meat are all noticeably more expensive.
A HILDA Survey found the average share of income spent on essentials grew by nearly 6% in 3 years. For single parents with dependent children the jump was 6.1%; for single non-elderly people, 7.8%.
Foodbank says the number of Australian households experiencing food insecurity in the past 12 months grew by 100,000, with increased living costs the top reason cited.
THE INSIDE TRACK
American Express is cutting 5% of jobs by the end of the year impacting 3K roles globally with the CEO saying it is not due to AI. LINK
Barings has abruptly enforced a 5-day return to the office without warning and is still actively recruiting while having marketed roles on the basis of flexibility. LINK
SiteMinder is undergoing a big global restructure and layoffs with at least 10% of roles gone and big Sydney impacts. LINK
Deloitte laid off people in its internal services business unit due to restructuring and business needs and roles were also affected in other business units. LINK
KPMG is closing its Hobart office with more than 600 roles mostly in Mid Market and private reportedly directed by global rather than local decision makers. LINK
Officeworks is continuing to offshore roles to Phillipines and India with some roles marked as possible redundancies from November to April and staff required to work notice and train offshore replacements. LINK
Suncorp cut its Home and Motor Claims Transformation spaces to less than half their previous size and most people have now been told if they have a job or EOI success. LINK
South East Water told staff at a town hall that it needs to reduce head count with no further communication while more than 1000 employees report burnout and multiple anonymous Worksafe and Union reports. LINK
Heard something at work? Redundancies, offshoring, an email that should not have gone out. Tell us what’s happening at your company.
COMPANY NEWS
Sara Lee's 1L ice cream tubs were delisted from Coles last month after a product range review, leaving neither Coles nor Woolworths stocking the five-flavour range. LINK
David Jones entered voluntary administration after 188 years in business, putting about 6,000 jobs and more than 340,000 square metres of leased department store space at risk. LINK
ANZ pledged to maintain a branch presence in every current regional community until at least December 2030 as it integrates Suncorp Bank and prepares for Senate scrutiny. LINK
Qantas lifted its forecast fuel bill for the current half-year to $3.75B, up $150M and $1.1B higher than last year, and will raise fares and cut capacity. LINK
Suncorp forecast a $4.2M reduction in car insurance claims after an AAMI app-based safer driving campaign drew 500,000 participants and delivered a 9% better-than-target claims reduction. LINK
Atlassian returned to an operating profit of US$189M with an 11% margin as quarterly revenue climbed 24% and cloud revenue rose 31% to US$1.3B. LINK
Westpac has spun off its century-old vaults to Guardian Vaults to focus on core lending, while demand for secure physical storage surged, with CBA adding 32,000 boxes and ABC Bullion revenue hitting $38B. LINK
AUSCORP EMPLOYEE BENEFITS SURVEY 2026
Two jobs can pay the same and feel completely different once you add up the parental leave, the super, the bonus, the WFH days and what your manager is like. We are comparing what Australian companies offer, and we need your help to do it.
It takes about 5 minutes and most of it is already filled in, so you won’t need to dig out your contract. There’s also a section on culture where you can tell us what your workplace is really like. It’s anonymous, and the results go straight back to the community.
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ONE MORE SCROLL
Odd Pick: A Chinese electric car just smashed through the 500 km/h barrier for the first time.
Editor’s Pick: Garment workers in Bangladesh are collapsing from heat inside factories that exceed 40 degrees.
Draft Pick: Reece Walsh's hat-trick helps Kangaroos thrash Samoa and reach Rugby League World Cup final.
Doctor’s Pick: The good and the hard of life on GLP-1s.
TRIVIA
How many times does a giant panda poop in a day?
Answer below
ANSWER
Around 40 times
