Good morning. Sydney rents fell 0.4% in the September quarter - the first drop in almost two years - while nationally the 0.5% rise was less than half the pace of the previous quarter.
Vacancy rates are still near record lows, but the long-held relationship between tight supply and rising rents has broken down as tenants hit the ceiling of what they can afford.
Instead of paying more, tenants are cramming more people into each rental and just splitting the bill where they can.
All the headlines and more below...
FAIR WORK COMMISSION RULES 63-YEAR-OLD CAN WORK FROM HOME ONE DAY A WEEK TO AVOID COMMUTING FATIGUE
The Fair Work Commission ordered Victoria University to let a student adviser work from home once a week, ruling that commuting is physically tiring for older workers and no medical evidence is required to prove it. The adviser only needed to show her request was connected to her age to trigger appeal rights under the Fair Work Act, which allows workers over 55 to challenge rejected flexible work requests.
The university had rejected the original request for 2 days from home, citing the need for face-to-face student contact and automation plans intended to free advisers for in-person interactions. This was accepted as reasonable business grounds but ordered a 6-month trial of the university's own counter-proposal: one day per week, every Wednesday. After the trial the university must try to reach an agreement on which day the adviser can work from home.
The ruling contrasts with a decision last month that found 2 older fly-in-fly-out workers' requests to spend more time with their wives as they transitioned to retirement were not objectively connected to age. Work-from-home appeals from older workers have become increasingly common over the past year.
AUSTRALIAN NEWS
The average first homebuyer mortgage under the federal 5% deposit scheme jumped $49,800 to $610,063 after income caps were removed, lifting repayments by $587 a month. LINK
Australia’s EV charging capacity lagged surging EV sales as the national fleet jumped from 370,000 to 612,000 vehicles while public chargers rose only to 11,602, worsening congestion risks. AFR
A money-laundering network was believed to have moved tens of millions of dollars in illicit tobacco profits offshore, using private ATMs, payment platforms and suburban businesses to send cash to cartel figures including. LINK
Just over 1 in 4 Australian and New Zealand women who froze their eggs for non-medical reasons returned to use them within 10 years, with one cycle costing $7,000 to $12,000 up front plus $500 to $1,000 a year in storage. LINK
Approved family day care services in Australia fell to 2% of the sector this year, down from 7% in 2016. LINK
COMPANY NEWS
PwC Australia launched an AI-driven automated cybersecurity managed service targeting mid-sized organisations as it pursues at least $500M, or 20% of billings, in outsourcing revenue by 2030. AFR
Cricket Victoria offered workers $16 "work-from-the-Shield" tickets with Wi-Fi and a free coffee to watch Sheffield Shield matches while working remotely, drawing criticism from employer group Ai Group. LINK
Adidas has sued Australian label White Fox in Federal Court alleging its four-striped clothing design infringes Adidas’s long-standing three-stripe trademark. LINK
Coles and Woolworths rolled out Christmas ranges and launch events earlier this year to attract cash-strapped, time-poor shoppers who still plan resilient festive food and drink spending. LINK
Artists and buyers on Etsy reported a surge in AI-generated and allegedly copied designs as legal experts warned copyright protections are unclear and difficult to enforce in the AI era. LINK
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TRIVIA
How much did this 8 bedroom, 562 metre squared house sell for in Tamarama, Sydney?
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