News Rundown
Too time-poor to keep up with Australian news? We’ve collated recent news in the policy and business landscape to keep you informed!
Health
January
- Young people can stay under their parents’ health insurance until the age of 31 from this year as more are expected to stay in education and live at home longer
- The federal government’s authorised rise in private health insurance premiums will leave families an extra $126 a year on average out of pocket
- Enrolling in Medicare
- Medicare to cover breakthrough devices
February
- Millenial’s guide to private health insurance in Australia
- The government is considering changes to Australia’s Prostheses List, a database of more than 11,000 medical devices that dictates what health insurers have to fork out if a member receives a treatment such as a joint replacement, pacemaker or stent
- Australia secures an additional 10 million doses of the Pfizer Vaccine
March
- Qld sees record number of COVID-19 cases from Papua New Guinea
- Doctors, healthcare workers to be punished for anti-vax COVID claims
- Australians now able to book vaccine appointments online
- Electronic Medical Records will be linked to My Health Record in South Australia
- $10 million for National Mental Health Research Centre
- $15 million for development of innovative therapies for mental illness
April
- Healthcare workers cancelling AstraZeneca jab appointments, waiting for Pfizer
- Australia to cut flights from India to contain virus risk
- Australian startups team up to provide telehealth solution to aboriginal groups
- ‘Like hunting for unicorns’: Australians on the search for adequate, affordable mental healthcare
- South Australia implements real-time prescription monitoring system
May
- Australians urged to get vaccinated as understanding of rare blood-clot condition grows
- Australia shares flat as healthcare, tech stocks cap gains in miners
- Health Minister’s launch of National Flu Vaccination Program an important reminder to all Australians
- Telehealth services remain a focus for the Australian Government as funding is extended until the end of 2021
- Wrapping health and healthcare reaction to a “three star” budget
- The new threat landscape for Australian healthcare
- Australia’s private health insurance industry in a ‘death spiral’, report says
June
- Electronic prescription is changing the script for healthcare
- Australia’s health challenges: COVID, cancer, cardio and capital
- Doctors to unveil plan to improve Australia’s healthcare system
July/August
- How does Australia’s health system rate internationally? This year it wins bronze
- $200 million Digital Health CRC launched
- More mental health support for rural and remote communities
September
- Health insights for a year with COVID-19 in Australia
- Under pressure: health leaders express deep concerns as Australia marks bleak COVID milestone
- COVID-19 mental health boost for the ACT
- Victoria’s Health Innovation Centre to create high-value jobs in Australia
October/November
Superannuation
February
March
- Malcolm Turnbull backs superannuation increase as research shows it will lift wages
- Top four superannuation mistakes Australians are making according to finance expert
- New federal scheme to allow domestic violence survivors to access superannuation for crisis response
- ‘Will make things worse’: Domestic violence superannuation policy under review after backlash
- Money traps to avoid when moving back to Australia
April
- How low can super fees go? How new changes will affect what you pay
- Government walks away from blocking legislated super guarantee rises
- Superannuation guarantee: Rise to 10 per cent in July under cloud
- Rainmaker reveals Australia’s most ESG superannuation funds
May
- Early super slashes $4.7bn
- Budget superannuation changes explained
- Australians being warned of superannuation rollover scams
- Australian super funds entangled in US pipeline cyber attack
- How federal budget superannuation changes could increase your nest egg
- Superannuation: Five common super fund mistakes we all make
- AusSuper signs up its 2 million members to news website
June
- What the new superannuation changes mean for your pay from July 1
- Australia’s best super funds in 2021
- Superannuation: How much money do you need to comfortably retire
- Superannuation rises could come at the cost of wages — workers may end up paying for their own super rise
July/August
- How to bring home your overseas super
- How much superannuation should I have at my age?
- What happens to my super if I’m a temporary resident working in Australia?
- Regulators keeping an eye on growing Australian super funds
- Changes to superannuation rules mean for-profit funds may not disclose poor performance
September
- Changes to employee superannuation fund choice rules
- Australians urged to switch where they invest for retirement as best and worst superannuation funds revealed
- Thirteen Australian superannuation funds fail performance test
- Calls for government to pay superannuation for women on parental leave
October/November
Child Care
January
February
March
- Child care is set to be a key issue at the next federal election. So what might it look like?
- Gastro soars in childcare centres after COVID-19 restrictions eased
April
- Labor plans to remove ‘biggest disincentives’ in the childcare system if elected
- More than 40 WA childcare centres sanctioned for safety breaches
May
- Child care and preschool is getting a boost in the 2021 federal budget. So what’s in it for you?
- How much you’ll save on childcare after Federal Budget helps families
- Budget 2021: Federal Government’s childcare reform a ‘targeted’ & ‘proportional’ investment, but for whom?
- An extra $1.7 billion for child care will help some. It won’t improve affordability for most
- Canberra has Australia’s highest childcare fees – and they are rising
June
- Sydney Childcare Costs: Who’s paying the most and least
- Child care subsidy & family tax benefits: How to navigate at tax time
- Australia Talks finds six out of 10 regional families can’t easily access child care
July/August
- Should Australia be vaccinating children? Here’s what other countries are doing
- Childcare to get cheaper for Australia’s low and middle income earners
- Federal government to spend extra $40-50m in COVID-19 assistance for childcare centres
- Commonwealth announces financial support for childcare centres
September
- Jabs made mandatory for Victorian schools and childcare
- Childcare Investing for Stable Income Returns
- At what age should children in Australia be vaccinated against Covid?
October/November
School
January
- Debate over Australia’s educational system
- Did you know Queensland’s senior schooling system has changed?
February
- Top scholarships offered to international students in Australia
- Most expensive city to send your child to school
March
- Big Science Competition free to schools Australia-wide
- ADHD report highlights financial burden, challenges at school for kids and families
- How Consent Education Fell Behind In Australia
April
- We need bold schools reform, not tinkering
- States spoil Australia’s school scorecard
- Minimum ratio of school psychologists needed as mental illness soars
- Alan Tudge’s 10-year plan to get schools back to basics
May
- Australia’s school curriculum: what are the proposed changes, and what’s the fuss about ‘invasion’?
- Why do some developing countries have more women in science than Australia — and how can we lift our game?
- Record investment in Australian schools
June
- Three different scholarships could support country ECEC learners to advance
- Pandemic-proofing Australia’s education system
- Applications open for 2021 Governor’s School STEM Awards
July/August
- High school from home: how to survive exams during lockdown
- Private schools to start vaccinating their staff on-site
- Debunking the myths surrounding the mass vaccination of NSW students
September
- Popular school zones coincide with soaring house prices
- NSW return to school looms but air filters not yet ordered and ventilation tests continue
- The benefits of post-school study
October/November
University
January
February
- Amid cuts, what does the future of Art School look like?
- Huge increase in demand for postgraduate courses as Australians look to upskill
- Australia’s university sector is unlikely to recover from COVID-19 this year
- Overseas students dump Australia as an option
March
- ANU plans to end neuroscience research as it struggles to save $103 million annually
- Mark Scott AO has been appointed the 27th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney
- Melbourne’s Real-World Impact on Climate Change
April
- Tudge calls for universities to bring all local students back on campus
- Closure of Indonesian language programs in Australian universities will weaken ties between the two countries
- Universities post healthy surpluses amid international student “collapse”
- Cutting Asian language courses at Australian universities hurting students’ job prospects, experts say
- ‘There’ll be a shakeup’: International student intakes plunge compared to pre-pandemic levels
- Australia’s universities dominate global impact rankings
- Record international student enrolments at UQ for 2021 as universities offer online study discounts
May
- NSW pushes plan to bring international students to Australia using purpose-built quarantine
- Australian National University commits to ‘below zero’ carbon emissions by 2030
- Australia had just two universities in the top 100
- Pandemic halves new international student university enrolments in Australia
- Australian universities brace for ‘ugly’ 2022 after budget cuts
July/August
- Reforms challenge what it means to be a university
- Australia must start readmitting international students
- Détente for Australian Universities
September
- The Australian universities with the most employable graduates
- International students to return to NSW by the end of the year
- La Trobe is first Australian university to require vaccination
- University revenue down with further falls anticipated
October/November
Tax
January
- Tax cuts gave 8 million more cash over summer in spending boost for economy
- Australian expats warned of tax bills on return post-pandemic
- Australia’s Broadband Tax Starts on January 1
February
- EU to hit Australia with a border tax on carbon emissions
- ACOSS calls for new superannuation tax to help fund aged care
- Online rally held to oppose new Australian electric vehicle tax
March
- Get a head start on tax planning in 2021
- ATO clarifies JobKeeper repayment tax deductibility
- Victorian government tax on electric vehicles a ‘disincentive’ to go green, users say
- Money traps to avoid when moving back to Australia
April
- What is Australia’s ‘lamington’ tax break and how much is it worth to you?
- $1,080 tax bonus on cards for 10 million Aussies
- Expenses ATO will target in Australians 2021 tax returns
- Australians who earn under $126,000 face pay cuts as tax offset ends
- High spirit tax ‘holding back’ distilling industry despite soaring demand
- Car makers, environmental groups blast ‘worst electric vehicle policy in the world’
May
- Expat tax shake-up stokes fears of ‘harsh outcomes’
- Tax relief has cheered Australia’s beer and spirit producers – but what will it mean in the bottle shop?
- The Aussies about to take a big income hit
July/August
- Can tax pooling work in Australia?
- Tax wealth to fund Australia’s ageing population
- Tax return windfall: Australians receive $5.3 billion in record-breaking time
September
- How to claim investments and EFTs on Australian tax returns
- Which Aussie tax payers and businesses will receive higher returns in 2021?
- Australia Tax Agency Announces Additional Tax Relief Measures Due to Coronavirus
October/November
- ATO urged to increase transparency, adopt US-style approach
- Proposed crackdown on multinational tax avoidance could deliver $1bn Australian budget boost over four years
- Australia Tax Agency Announces Deadline Extension for Year-End CbC Report Filers Due to Coronavirus
- Australian Tax Office says it can’t rely on crypto users’ own records
Opportunity/Grants
January
- Listed medical device makers Cochlear and ResMed are preparing to pump more money into research, in a bid to expand their footprints in key markets, one year on from the start of the coronavirus pandemic
- Queensland Government launches $100 million small business grant program
- Popular Australian venues receive Fed Govt live music funding
- A guide to all the grants available to your small business organised by industry
February
- Grants to boost organ donation rate now open
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Grants for bushfire regions
March
- Taxpayers fund $50m in gas drilling grants
- Program Support for Media Small Grants Competition
- First space techs awarded ‘Moon to Mars’ grants
- Victoria rolls out cash grants for businesses affected by snap lockdown
April
- HomeBuilder grant extended
- $5 million funding boost for regional touring
- Australia launches grant program to widen Indo-Pacific partnership with India
May
- Australia rejigs export grants scheme
- MedTech and pharma grants open in WA
- NAB Foundation grants support Australians before, during and after nat
- $150,000 in grants toward stronger communities
- Unique wine experiences grant to attract tourists
- Macular Disease Foundation Australia awards $1 million to eight exciting research projects
- Boosting biosecurity effectiveness
- The Australian Cultural Fund is a fundraising platform for Australian artists
July/August
- Government grants to support Australian ingenuity and create jobs
- New $750,000 Friends of Parks grants program launches
- Women’s grants program now open for applications
- $5 million to boost emerging researchers’ bids for major Australian Government funding
- $57m in small business cash grants out the door as COVID economic recovery continues
September
- Australia proposes ‘patent box’ to boost life sciences innovation
- Applications open for inaugural Angus research grant
- Australia’s first biotech incubator is happening thanks to a $40 million grant
- Further support for South Australian small businesses impacted by Covid-19
October/November
Migration
January
February
- Call for more skilled migration to boost business
- Australia lost 600,000 temporary visa holders in 2020
- Labor pushes for visa applicants to be exempt from having to leave Australia during Covid
March
- Streamlining skilled migration
- ‘Goodbye, Australia’: The migrants giving up on the Australian dream for Canada
- Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack promotes a migration to regions — but some country towns are full
- Universities demand permanent residency for international students
- Australia needs ‘sustainable migration’ to boost the economy
- Scott Morrison says government has ‘open mind’ on post coronavirus migration overhaul
April
- Australia’s ‘skilled’ migrants chronically underemployed
- Is now a good time to move to Australia?
- Economists believe Australia’s migration program needs an overhaul
May
- Migration won’t return to pre-COVID-19 levels for years
- Business migrants need $1m more to secure investment visa
- When will skilled migrants return? Not for another year, government says
- What did the 2021–2022 Federal Budget say about Immigration?
July/August
- Parliamentary report warns of ‘persistent skill shortages’ as half a million migrants leave Australia
- Migrating to Australia through family-sponsored visas
- Immigration update: Australian states open skilled visa nomination programs for 2021-2022
- Pharmacists added to Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List to support Australia’s vaccine rollout
September
- Migrant women ‘at risk’ in changes to Australian welfare access
- Australia global tech talent visa attracts 9,584 migrants
- Australia – Skilled Migration Rules Updated
- Migrants to Australia share their stories of culture shock
- Drop in skilled migrants, spike in family visas, as Australia grants 160,000 permanent residencies
October/November
- Australians can travel overseas again: what you need to know
- DFAT moves back to ‘pre-COVID settings’ for overseas Australians
- Australia to let in vaccinated visa holders but tourists have to wait
- Major Recruitment Campaign Launched to Attract Recruits to Western Australia Health System
- Visa changes could help 200,000 foreign workers stay longer
Jobs
January
- Job vacancies surge to pre-COVID levels, as Australian share market loses momentum
- Australia has huge growth in job vacancies, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to find one
- Where to look for job opportunities in 2021 after a year of record unemployment
- Main Sequence Ventures talent Network
- Need to find a cofounder?
February
- New report reveals what jobs and skills will be in demand in Australia by 2025
- The hidden jobs shift during COVID-19
March
- Australia Feb jobs beat forecasts, unemployment drops
- ASX trading flat as Australia awaits unemployment data
- Scott Morrison says JobKeeper must come to an end, speaks on new unemployment figures
- Australia may shed 100,000 jobs in coming months
April
- Australia creates 2300 jobs a day as economy bounces back
- Western Australian jobs growth smashes records in March
- Australia must stop wasting time and shift to renewable energy to spark job creation, Albanese says
- Labor argues aged care could be Australia’s next big job opportunity: union says 25% increase is needed – to cost $1.5B a year
- Aussie jobs market powers past ending of JobKeeper
May
- Australia news live: unemployment rate falls to 5.5%; Qantas announces more job cuts
- Changes to casual employment: A guide for Australian employers
- $111 million boost for SA recycling industry
- Services Australia to lose 800 jobs amid ASL uplift
- Steel jobs remain in South Australia
- Statewide recruitment drive for secondary teaching jobs
- Skills Australia: The jobs today’s newborns will need, says futurist
- Virgin Australia announces hundreds of new jobs, set to launch more flights in coming months
July/August
- Job Australia: How lockdown is affecting jobs
- ‘Will not be bullied’: Thousands of truckies walk off the job across Australia as negotiations break down with Toll
- Best Career Choices: 51 Skills in Shortage and Forecast for Future Demand
September
Policy
January
- Australia quietly updated its emissions targets
- Labor pushes for visa applicants to be exempt from having to leave Australia during Covid
- International students can extend stay via COVID-19 Pandemic Event visa
- Australia announces visa changes and tougher rules for business migrants
February
- Productivity Commission finds Australia’s water policy not up to challenge of climate change, population growth
- Anthony Albanese to outline Labor’s job security plan in major policy speech
March
- Eroding our culture: how the Australian arts have been slowly undermined
- Deportation of a minor: how a ‘corrosive’ policy sank cosy relations between Australia and New Zealand
- Tensions erupt between New Zealand and Australia over controversial criminal deportations
- The ever-shrinking role of gas in Australia’s power system
- How rape allegations have rocked Australian politics
April
- Australia’s tax system favours men over women so it’s time to make the budget more female-friendly
- Australian employers could require some workers to be vaccinated after commission ruling
- Grant King to overhaul the Climate Change Authority
May
- ‘Jobs over ideology’: Labor split over energy policy
- Wages growth edges higher, but weighed down by public sector pay freezes
- Senators push for a crypto-friendly Australia
- Australia now has a work + family policy blueprint and big business is on board
July/August
- How can Australia fill the electric vehicle policy hole?
- Australia borders: Citizens living overseas could be ‘trapped’ if they return
- Australia’s climate policies falling short of United Nations’ global goals
September
Elections
January
- Enrolling to vote overseas
- Election may impact housing market’s positive outlook – REIA
- Upcoming Elections:
- Next Federal Election – On or before 21 May 2022
- Simultaneous half-Senate and House of Representatives:
- Earliest Date: 7 August 2021
- Latest Date: 21 May
- House of Representatives – On or before 3 September 2022
- WA – 13 March 2021
- TAS – Mid 2022
- SA – 19 March 2022
- VIC – 26 November 2022
- NSW – 23 March 2023
February
- WA election looming and mental health services emerge as key issue
- Zak Kirkup claims underdog status as polls put him well behind Mark McGowan
- Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup blocks media from questioning candidate ahead of WA election
- WA election Liberal candidate Andrea Tokaji withdraws after ‘dangerous’ 5G coronavirus conspiracy theory beliefs revealed
- Facing crisis’ on two fronts, McGowan asks Governor to issue writs for WA election
March
- WA election: Record number of women set to claim seat in Parliament following landslide
- Labor’s landslide victory win shows Liberal Party on brink of extinction in WA
- WA election leaves Daylight Saving, Legalise Cannabis parties on verge of joining Parliament
April
- If 80% of Australians care about climate action, why don’t they vote like it?
- How will the Tasmanian election play out?
- Pre-polling opens in Tasmanian election, but will it be embraced by voters?
- Postpone the poll: why the Coalition is suddenly looking rattled
May
- Early election talk grows again as Morrison government sets up tax-cut fight
- Budget 2021: make no mistake, this is a keeping options open for an election this year budget
July/August
- Shortage of candidates for the NT’s local government elections in August
- Labor to back electoral reforms that could deregister dozens of minor parties
- Changes to federal election rules including party sizes and names pass Parliament
September
Housing
February
- More than 30 organisations have written letters to the federal, state and territory governments to ensure that Australian Housing is future proofed to provide mandatory accessibility standards
- Housing in regional Queensland scarce due to interstate migration, remote work and returning Aussies
- Australian government’s housing policy continues to ignore low income earners
March
- Calls for human right to shelter in Australia
- Housing Booms in Australia as Prices Surge Most in 17 Years
- Experts say this is what Australia needs to do to solve the housing crisis
April
- Housing boom may be halted by regulators or economic trends, analysts warn
- Unit prices fall in many city suburbs amid house-led real estate boom
- Reforms needed to improve housing resilience in Australia
- 3 reasons why Australia’s booming housing market won’t last long-term
May
- Australia’s house prices have seen the steepest increase in almost 18 years
- How Labor plans to fix the housing affordability crisis
- Is fractional property investing a path into the housing market for younger Aussies?
- Fears Australia’s housing crisis will worsen as affordable rental scheme winds down
- Australia’s housing crisis: it’s one of the most unaffordable in the world, so how is the Coalition going to fix it?
- Federal budget fails to address Australia’s housing shortage and homelessness, experts say
July/August
- Australian housing market entering ‘tricky territory’ as affordability starts to bite
- Why lockdowns aren’t suppressing house prices
- Housing affordability worsens across regional markets
- Australia headed for negative interest rates as iron ore, housing market slump
Septmeber
- Why the Reserve Bank and government are in no mood to rein in property prices in booming market
- Australian house prices could be about to flatten out after rising 16.8% in last year
- No bubbles in sight, but Australia’s property boom comes at a cost
- Reserve Bank says Australia’s house prices could pose ‘risk to financial stability’