Good morning. Half of Australians aged 18 to 29 are now living with their parents, up from 39% in 2001, according to the HILDA survey that has followed the same 17,000 people since then.
Among those who have moved out, two-thirds are renting privately. In the mainland capital cities, 25.3% of young private renters are in housing stress, up from 17.6% for the same cohort in 2001.
Employment is high, but half of all workers now say they are over-qualified for the job they actually have.
All the headlines and more below...
COST OF RUNNING A FAMILY HAS RISEN 134% IN 20 YEARS WHILE HOUSEHOLD INCOME GREW 102%
Parenting costs now stand at $17,800 a year for one child or over $36,500 for 2 or more, with childcare as a share of the total cost of raising a child climbing from 27% to 33% between 2004 and 2024. Analysis by ConnellGriffin for parents advocate The Parenthood found family costs rose 134% over the past 2 decades, compared with 102% growth in household disposable income, a gap of about 30 percentage points.
Australia's total fertility rate is projected to fall to 1.34 children per woman by 2066, down from 1.62 in the 2023 Intergenerational Report, and deaths are expected to overtake births by the 2060s. Population growth is forecast to slow from an average 1.4% annual rate over the past 40 years to 0.9% by 2066.
AUSTRALIAN NEWS
The RBA has found Australian data centre operators have raised a record $35B this year, up 46% on 2025, while showing little evidence of crowding out other borrowers. LINK
Up to 900 airport and airline workers represented by the TWU are staging coordinated strikes across major Australian airports over pay and job security, with Sydney Airport passengers warned of significant delays. AUS
3,234 AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES COLLAPSED IN THE FIRST 2 MONTHS OF FY27
Construction companies accounted for more than a third of the insolvencies recorded between 1 July and early September, with about 1,172 construction firms going under in that period. Business insolvencies jumped 66% in August to a record high, driven almost entirely by the collapse of Sydney developer Bathla Group, which took 542 related corporate entities with it when it fell with 2,500 houses still under construction. Accommodation and food services recorded 381 collapses, followed by professional and technical services (199), retail (170), transport and warehousing (149) and healthcare (139).
Outside Bathla, insolvency activity is running at normal levels, though firms expect a rise over the next 12 months as higher diesel costs squeeze margins and banks flag 2 further interest rate increases. Businesses entered 2026 expecting rate cuts; instead, costs are rising while revenue stays flat, and smaller firms in construction and hospitality lack the ability to pass increases on to customers.
COMPANY NEWS
Qantas announced it will launch non-stop Sydney-New York flights in mid-2028 using specially configured Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, cutting travel time by about 3 hours. LINK
Dymocks Tutoring and Talent 100 has decided to close its 5 Sydney centres as its chief executive urges parents to use cheaper AI tools like Gemini and ChatGPT instead. AFR
NAB suffered a major outage hitting its online banking, mobile app, NAB Connect, NAB Trade, NAB Broker and JBWere services, with many customers unable to make everyday payments. LINK
The Department of Finance has warned that an independent review into KPMG Australia’s alleged misuse of confidential client information could lead to the firm’s suspension or termination from all Commonwealth panels. CB
Myer posted a full-year statutory loss of $276.5M, reversing comparable sales growth of 0.7% to $4.1B, as weak discretionary spending and beauty sales dragged performance. LINK
OpenAI has agreed to provide its AI cyber defence system Daybreak and access to its GPT 5.6 Sol model free to Ukraine to help protect civilian infrastructure amid thousands of Russian cyber-attacks. LINK
Exploring AI Voice With SuperBloom
For Deel's "Feeling of Deeling" campaign, agency SuperBloom needed one consistent brand voice across markets—deployed fast, without sacrificing quality or consent. In this on-demand video session, SuperBloom and Voices break down the casting, production, and governance, plus what they'd do differently and where AI voice is headed next.
ONE MORE SCROLL
Editor’s Pick: The e61 Institute has found that about 53% of housing investors will pay more tax and 43% will pay less under the federal government’s CGT and negative gearing changes.
Draft Pick: World Rugby has handed France lock Cloé Correa a 2-match ban for contact with the eye area during a chaotic WXV win over Australia, judging the act non-deliberate.
Doctor’s Pick: There’s a long history of athletes pooing themselves mid-race - why, and how can you avoid it?
TRIVIA
We are in full sporting finals season at the moment so we're going all sport today:
Who has won the most premierships in the below categories:
Men's AFL
Women's AFL
Men's Top-Tier Australian Rugby League
Women's Netball team at Australian national level
Answers below
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ANSWERS
1. Collingwood, Essendon, and Carlton are tied for the record, having each won 16 premierships.
2. Adelaide Crows hold the record with 3 premierships (2017, 2019, 2022).
3. South Sydney Rabbitohs hold the record with 21 premierships across top-tier Australian rugby league history
4. NSW Swifts with 7 titles.
