O75 Public Administration

Work from Home: Another Great Australian Divide

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Aug-25

New research from Roy Morgan highlights a clear divide across Australia’s 150 federal electorates. Nationwide, 47% of working electors (around 5.94 million people) work from home at least some of the time. However, this flexibility is concentrated in just 45 electorates, and the majority of working electors continue to work in-person in the remaining 105 seats. The highest work from home electorates are concentrated in Australia’s inner-cities: Sydney (67%), Wentworth (66%), Bennelong (65%), Kooyong (65%) and Grayndler (62%) lead the nation. These affluent electorates are dominated by professional white-collar workers and are held by Labor or high-profile Independents. The electorates with the lowest levels of working from home are found in large regional and remote electorates, where on-site industries dominate; they include Mallee (31%), Durack (31%), Forrest (29%), Lingiari (28%) and Gippsland (28%). Among the 45 electorates where a majority work from home, Labor dominates with 30 seats, reflecting its strength in metropolitan hubs where hybrid work is most entrenched.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ACTU’s training levy a ‘crock’, say business leaders

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 20-Aug-25

The ACTU has used the first day of the federal government’s economic roundtable to call for a national skills levy, with its idea being roundly rejected by employer and business groups. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox claimed that the proposal would impact 71,000 businesses with a combined payroll of about $300 billion; the ACTU stated that its proposal would involve a levy of 1.5 per cent of payroll for companies with annual turnover above $500,000, unless a business already spends that amount on training. Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black says incentives to boost training, such as those provided to take on apprentices, are preferable to taxes.

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ACTU, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increases for those with a mortgage, but down for home owners after Reserve Bank cuts rates

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Aug-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 89.4 in the week to 17 August, after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.6%. However, Consumer Confidence is now 6.4 points above the same week a year ago (83.0), and 2.6pts above the 2025 weekly average of 86.8. Analysis by State shows mixed results, with Consumer Confidence up in Queensland and South Australia, but down in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Importantly, the Consumer Confidence of home owners has dropped by 2.6 points this week, although the Consumer Confidence for people with a mortgage has increased by 2.1 points. Meanwhile, 24% of Australians (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year (the highest figure for this indicator so far this year), while 42% (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 29% (up 1ppt) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 32% (up 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Just 23% (down 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 33% (unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Zelensky ready for Putin

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 9 : 20-Aug-25

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is ready for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which would be Zelensky’s first face-to-face meeting with Putin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The prospect of the two leaders meeting comes after Zelensky and European leaders met with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, with a meeting between Zelensky and Putin to be followed by one that would also involve Trump. Russia’s Tass news agency reported that Putin told Trump he was open to the idea of direct talks with Zelensky. Meanwhile, Trump has ruled out deploying troops in Ukraine but indicated that the nation could provide air support as part of any peace deal.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION

More than 6.7 million Australians work from home

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-25

New research from Roy Morgan shows that over 6.7 million Australians (representing 46% of employed Australians) work from home at least some of the time, paid or unpaid. The remaining 54% work entirely in-person. A slim majority of full-time employees (51%) work from home at least some of the time, compared to 36% of part-time employees. Australians living in capital cities are more likely to work from home than those who live in regional areas. A majority of workers from Australia’s largest cities of Sydney (55%) and Melbourne (52%) work from home, as do 51% in the nation’s capital in Canberra/ACT. Working from home rates are lower in the smaller capital cities led by Hobart (45%) and Adelaide (44%), and followed by Brisbane (43%) and Perth (40%). In contrast, regional areas show lower adoption of working from home, led by Queensland (40%), (NSW 39%) and Victoria (37%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Coalition vows Palestine policy reversal once in power

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 7 : 13-Aug-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his government’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state at the ­United Nations’ General Assembly meeting in September. Albanese says it will send a message to Israel that "enough is enough", and he is confident that the international community can prevent Hamas from playing any role in a future Palestinian state. Meanwhile, Opposition leader Sussan Ley says the shadow cabinet has resolved that a future Coalition government would revoke recognition of a Palestinian state; she argues that this must only occur at the conclusion of a proper peace process.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence softens ahead of RBA interest rates decision, down 1.3pts to 89.3

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1.3pts to 89.3 in the week to 10 August. However, Consumer Confidence is now 5.4 points above the same week a year ago (83.9), and 2.5pts above the 2025 weekly average of 86.8. Analysis by State shows mixed results, with Consumer Confidence up in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia, but down in Queensland and South Australia. Now 21% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 40% (unchanged) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 28% (unchanged) of respondents expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 30% (up 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now just 13% (up 1ppt) of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 26% (down 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 24% (down 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 33% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

One of Australia’s largest exports to the US escapes tariff hit

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Original article by Olivia Ireland
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 13-Aug-25

US President Donald Trump has confirmed that gold imports will continue to be exempt from his administration’s tariffs regime. Trump has clarified the situation in response to the Customs & Border Protection agency’s recent ruling that one-kilogram and 100-ounce gold bars will be subject to the country-based tariffs regime that took effect on 7 August. Official data shows that Australia exported $11bn worth of non-monetary gold to the US during the first four months of 2025, compared with $2.95bn for the whole of 2024.

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UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

RBA’s grim growth warning

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Aug-25

The Reserve Bank of Australia has downgraded its forecast for productivity growth in the medium-term from one per cent to just 0.7 per cent. RBA governor Michele Bullock says lower productivity growth is already resulting in slower growth in real wages; she adds that the central bank cannot do anything to lift productivity, and the outlook for this metric will depend on what the federal government does in response to its economic reform summit next week. The RBA has also warned that the domestic economy can now sustain a GDP growth rate of just two per cent a year. Meanwhile, economists expect another official interest rate cut by the end of 2025, after the RBA reduced it by 25 basis points to 3.6 per cent on Tuesday.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

In July Australian unemployment was virtually unchanged at 10.3%, but under-employment surged to 10.9%

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-25

In July 2025, Australian ‘real’ unemployment fell by 10,000 to 1,644,000 (down 0.1% to 10.3% of the workforce). The small dip in unemployment was driven by fewer people looking for part-time work (down 157,000 to 949,000), which was offset by people looking for full-time work (up 147,000 to 695,000). In addition to the unemployed, a further 1.74 million Australians (up 1% to 10.9% of the workforce) were under-employed, i.e. working part-time but looking for more work (up 158,000 from June). In total, 3.38 million Australians (21.2% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in July. Meanwhile, Roy Morgan estimates the overall workforce size (which adds together the employed and unemployed) at 15,930,000 in July, up 43,000 on a month ago, and representing 69% of Australians aged 14+.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED