O75 Public Administration

Hidden cost of mental illness

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Stephen Lunn
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 31-Oct-19

The Productivity Commission has released a report which calls for ‘generational changes’ to address the issue of mental illness. The report notes that Australia has a higher rate of mental illness than the OECD average, and it costs the nation about $500m per day. Amongst other things, the report examines the direct cost of mental illness in terms of lost productivity and the provision of health services. It also warns that many people with mental illness are not receiving the support and services they require.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

CPI cools further rate cut chances

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 31-Oct-19

Official data shows that the consumer price index rose 0.5 per cent during the September quarter and 1.7 per cent year-on-year. Trimmed mean inflation was 0.4 per cent during the quarter and 1.6 per cent for the year to September. With the inflation rate remaining below the Reserve Bank’s target range of 2-3 per cent for a 15th consecutive quarter, the cash rate now seems likely to stay unchanged at 0.75 per cent for the rest of the year. Craig James of CommSec says the three interest rate cuts in 2019 have spooked consumers.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Figures show Australia’s wealth is growing but benefits are not spread evenly

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Charis Chang
News.com.au – Page: Online : 31-Oct-19

The Roy Morgan Wealth Report shows that Australia’s net wealth has increased by 90.5 per cent, or $4107bn, between 2007 and 2019. The nation’s wealth increased by 47.6 per cent when the CPI is taken into account. The net wealth of individual Australians has also increased since the global financial crisis, but this increase has not been spread evenly across the population. Median net wealth has increased by 26.3 per cent to $1.7m, although this has fallen by 2.2 per cent when adjusted for the CPI. However, the top decile of Australians have increased their wealth by 60 per cent since 2007, while the lowest decile remains in negative wealth, with their net wealth rising from -$20,000 to -$19,000. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says wealth inequality can breed distrust in society.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

‘Admission is not absolution’: FWO warns Woolies after $300m wage theft revelations

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 31-Oct-19

Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci has apologised after the retail giant became the latest company to be embroiled in the wage underpayment scandal. Woolworths has advised that it faces remediation costs of up to $300m after revealing that some 5,700 employees across its supermarkets and Metro stores have been underpaid, potentially since 2010. Woolworths will also review its non-grocery businesses, such as Big W and Dan Murphy’s. Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker says the size of a company’s underpayment will be taken into consideration when the FWO considers penalties in the future.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, DAN MURPHY’S, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

RBA urges boards: cut hurdle rates

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Oct-19

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has used a speech in Canberra to argue that businesses should reduce their return hurdle rates on new investments in response to historically low interest rates. He contends that many business investments that did not make sense commercially when interest rates were much higher should now proceed. Lowe also emphasised that negative interest rates are unlikely in Australia.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence slips to 110.4

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Oct-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 1.1% to 110.4 in the week ended 27 October. Households’ views towards current financial conditions rose 5%, reversing much of the recent falls; views towards future financial conditions gained 0.4%, a third weekly rise. Consumers’ views toward current economic conditions fell 4% to the lowest level since early 2017, and views towards future economic conditions lost 3.8%. The ‘time to buy a major household item’ was down 3.3%, compared to a gain of 5.1% previously. The four-week average for inflation expectations was stable at 4.1%, although the weekly reading fell below 4% after five weeks of stability.

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

PM’s $1bn clean energy bet

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Oct-19

The federal government will establish a Grid Reliability Fund, which will be administered by the Clean Energy Finance ­Corporation. The new fund will invest in projects that increase the reliability of energy supplies and transmission infrastructure, and help to reduce electricity prices. Such projects include the ones that are on the short-list for the Underwriting New Generation Investments scheme. The government will also inject an additional $1bn into the CEFC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. CLEAN ENERGY FINANCE CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TRANSGRID, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET COMMISSION

Google faces court case over misled users

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Swan, Elias Visontay
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Oct-19

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has launched legal action against digital giant Google for misleading users of Android smartphones with regard to the amount of data it collects and how the data would be used. Amongst other things, the ACCC contends that Google failed to inform consumers that it would continue to receive location data from their smartphones if they switched off the ‘location history’ option. Google faces potential fines of up to $10m or 10 per cent of its annual turnover if the alleged breaches of Australian consumer law are proven in the Federal Court.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

New Roy Morgan Report Fills the Information Gap on Australians’ Net Wealth

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Oct-19

There has been no shortage of attempts to measure the true state of wealth in Australia. Some have focused on income, others have tracked debt and yet others have tried to quantify assets. They have supplied pieces of the puzzle. But no-one has been able to provide the full picture on the Net Wealth held by individual Australians – until now. The Roy Morgan Wealth Report 2019 fills the gaps, providing evidence-based answers to the lingering questions about wealth in our nation. By calculating total personal assets and subtracting total personal debt, the report offers the first fully detailed data on Australians’ Net Wealth. This information matters because wealth, and the way it is distributed, is intrinsically linked to Australia’s economic resilience and future. Roy Morgan is able to deliver this information thanks to Australia’s most extensive and longest-running study of consumer financial behaviour. The study, which has been running continuously for more than 20 years, involves over 50,000 in-depth, face-to-face interviews conducted in respondents’ homes each year. This provides privileged access to every aspect of Australians’ lives, including fully detailed financial positions, providing data of unmatched depth and breadth. It enables analysis of genuine Net Wealth by age, gender, location, employment type and more, showing precisely what form that wealth takes, how evenly or otherwise it is distributed, how it has grown, and what further shifts are likely in coming years.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

‘We’re not doing it’: PM quickly nixes call to raise GST

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 29-Oct-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out any changes to the goods and services tax regime without seeking a mandate from voters. Morrison has indicated that the federal government looked at broadening the GST when he was Treasurer, but such a move was deemed to have little economic benefit. Liberal senator Dean Smith recently broke ranks with his Coalition colleagues by advocating an increase in the rate and scope of the GST, arguing that the additional revenue would allow the states to abolish payroll taxes.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY