🗞️ Food for thought

3.6 million Australian households went hungry in the past year, 100,000 more than the year before, with nearly seven in ten experiencing food insecurity for the first time.

The Aussie Corporate Published Oct 27, 2026

Good morning. 3.6 million Australian households went hungry in the past year, 100,000 more than the year before, with nearly 7 in 10 experiencing food insecurity for the first time.

Regional households are worse off than city ones, despite living closest to the food source, and more than half of First Nations households are going without.

Even people with full-time jobs are now going to charity food pantries, because households cut food before they cut rent, power or getting to work.

All the headlines and more below...

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NAB ADVERTISED 172 ASIAN JOBS THE DAY IT ANNOUNCED 2,500 REDUNDANCIES

National Australia Bank posted roles in India, Vietnam and Singapore on 20 October, the same day it announced 2,500 redundancies, most of them in Australia. The offshore roles include management positions in lending operations and private wealth, with 103 jobs in Ho Chi Minh City, 28 in Hanoi and 36 in Gurugram.

One senior analyst role in Gurugram will manage end-to-end processing of business loan requests and validate borrower financials, core work for the country's largest business lender. Of the 36 jobs in Gurugram, 19 are at vice president level, which NAB defines as entry to mid-level management. NAB now employs around 7,000 people offshore, about 18% of total staff, split across subsidiaries established in Vietnam in 2019 and India in 2022.

Vice president roles in India pay the equivalent of $53,000 according to Glassdoor data, roughly half the salary for comparable work in Australia. Offshore workers are not covered by superannuation or Australian industrial relations minimums, though NAB offers 20 days paid annual leave, 7 days sick leave, premium family healthcare and a 13-month bonus. NAB chief executive Andrew Irvine will appear before a parliamentary committee on 13 November, where members will ask about the risks of offshoring and whether AI played a role in the job cuts.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Consumer Affairs Victoria launched a blitz on property auctions as a new law requiring sellers to disclose reserve prices took effect amid a deepening property downturn and confused buyers. AFR
Researchers analysing HILDA survey data reported that severe food insecurity in Australia rose about 40% between 2020 and 2024, hitting single-parent families hardest and varying significantly by region. LINK
Sydney hotel forward bookings for late December to early January have been 7% lower and Melbourne occupancy almost 10% lower as cost-conscious travellers delayed and shortened trips. AUS
81% of Australians want a right to human review of AI decisions, while 79% expect to know when AI is used. CB
Perth Airport warned travellers to expect years of disruption as it starts consolidating 4 terminals into a single Qantas-linked hub, amid uncertainty over the $3B project’s cost and timing. LINK

JETSTAR ISSUED VOUCHERS ON 1.5M CANCELLED FLIGHTS WORTH $748M AND IS NOW FACING A CLASS ACTION

Echo Law alleges at least 180,806 bookings worth about $66M were cancelled with customers receiving neither a voucher nor a refund. Internal emails filed in the Federal Court class action show Qantas set a target of 80% credit and 20% cash for refunds in April 2020, spread between Qantas and Jetstar. Jetstar issued vouchers on 1.5M bookings worth more than $748M in 2020 and 2021 after cancelling flights.

From at least May 2020, Jetstar knew directing customers to its contact centre to seek a refund was harder than requesting a credit voucher online, according to the court filing. Management noted "our strategy is working" as public statements emphasised call centre congestion to push customers to "self serve" a credit voucher. Echo Law also alleges some customers found flights more than double the original price when they tried to use flight credits. Jetstar told customers there would be no refund of the difference if a voucher was used on a cheaper flight.

The case is due to head to mediation in December, with a trial set for May 2027 if no settlement is reached. Qantas reached a $105M settlement with Echo Law in March over similar claims with no admission of liability, and spent $114M in total including legal fees.

COMPANY NEWS

Air New Zealand operated the first international commercial flight from Western Sydney International to Auckland, as flight NZ166 inaugurated a 3-times-weekly trans-Tasman service. LINK
NextDC cut full-year revenue guidance from $615M-$640M to $475M-$500M and purged executive pay as Melbourne power delays to its M3 site sparked investor backlash. LINK
ASIC confirmed it will not take enforcement action against Super Retail Group or its directors as it sues former CEO Anthony Heraghty over alleged undisclosed conflicts of interest. LINK
Corporate Travel Management rebounded about 45% to $3.38 after trading resumed and IATA returned a $65M security guarantee, boosting working capital by about $30M. LINK
Perfection Fresh Australia admitted in Federal Court to fixing prices of broccoli, cauliflower and iceberg lettuce sold to Aldi in NSW on 11 occasions as ACCC pursued civil cartel action. LINK
Ray White warned that affordable suburbs within the Federal Government’s 5% deposit scheme caps are recording the sharpest house price falls, increasing negative equity risks for recent first-homebuyers. LINK

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