Public transport use increases in March quarter 2023 – but frequency of use is over 20% lower than pre-pandemic

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Jul-23

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 11.87 million Australians aged 14+ (54.6%) used public transport at least once during the March 2023 quarter. This is more than 2.9 million (+32.4%) higher than the March 2022 quarter, and an increase of almost 5 million from the September 2020 quarter when only 6.88 million Australians (32.6%) were using public transport at least once in that quarter. However, although the overall number of Australians using public transport at least once in the March 2023 quarter is approaching pre-pandemic levels, the frequency of public transport use is still well below the level in 2019. For bus travellers, their frequency of use is over 20% lower than pre-pandemic while for train travellers their frequency of use is over 25% lower than pre-pandemic. The March 2023 quarter was the first since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020 during which all major COVID-related restrictions had been removed. This data comes from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most comprehensive consumer survey, derived from in-depth interviews with over 60,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence jumps 2.6pts to 75.2 after decision to replace RBA boss Phil Lowe with Michele Bullock

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Jul-23

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 2.6pts to 75.2 in the week to 23 July, to its highest since early June. However, Consumer Confidence has now spent 21 straight weeks below the mark of 80, the longest stretch below 80 since the index began being conducted on a weekly rather than a monthly basis in October 2008. Consumer Confidence is now 7.2pts below the same week a year ago (82.4), and 3.1pts below the 2023 weekly average of 78.3. Consumer Confidence was up in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and WA, but down slightly in South Australia. Now 20% of Australians (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 53% (down 4ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 30% (up 2ppts) of Australians now expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 36% (down 4ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 6% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 40% (down 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 18% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 57% (also unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

PM urged not to visit China till sanctions go

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 2 : 26-Jul-23

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese remains under pressure to postpone a proposed official visit to China amid ongoing trade tensions. Warwick Smith from the Business Council of Australia says China’s trade sanctions are an "endless point of contention" that must be addressed before Albanese considers visiting China. Smith says the Productivity Commission’s recent finding that the trade restrictions had resulted in little impact on the Australian economy shows that China’s stance had been a "political own-goal"; however, he notes that individual companies had been heavily impacted by the sanctions. The wine industry in particular has found it hard to secure alternative export markets.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Right to disconnect from work should be law: union

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Helen Trinca
The Australian – Page: 19 : 26-Jul-23

The Australian Services Union is pushing for the right to disconnect from work to be enshrined in the Fair Work Act. The ASU’s assistant national secretary Emeline Gaske notes that a growing number of countries are introducing a legislated right for employees to refuse to answer work-related emails or phone calls outside of their standard working hours. An ASU survey of clerical and administrative workers across several industries has found, amongst other things, that one in three respondents are expected to perform work outside their scheduled work hours; in addition, half of all workers feel pressured to take calls or monitor emails outside of work hours.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SERVICES UNION

Uniqlo says sorry after uncovering $25 million in underpayments

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Emma Koehn
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 26-Jul-23

Uniqlo Australia is the latest company to admit that its employees have been underpaid. The Japan-based casual wear retailer has advised that about 7,900 employees had been underpaid $25m in total between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2022. The underpayment occured due to errors in calculating affected employees’ entitlements, and were identified after a specialist firm undertook a review of Uniqlo’s systems. The company opened its first Australian store in 2014, and it now has more than 30 stores nationwide.

CORPORATES
UNIQLO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Labor mulls IR relief amid employer fury

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan, Glen Norris
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 26-Jul-23

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has indicated that the federal government may be open to exempting small businesses from its plans to allow casual workers to switch to permanent employment after six months in a job. Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has expressed concern about the potential impact of the casual labour reforms on small businesses, noting that many are already struggling in the wake of the pandemic, natural disasters and the cost-of-living crisis. Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey contends that the proposed reforms do not make sense, as businesses may offset their increased costs by downsizing their workforce. He adds that most of the retailer’s casual staff prefer the increased flexibility compared with permanent employment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN

Musk set to kill billions in brand value with sudden Twitter rebrand

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Aisha Counts, Jesse Levine
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 26-Jul-23

Analysts and brand agencies warn that Elon Musk’s move to rebadge Twitter’s product name and scrap its well-known bird logo could backfire. They estimate that it could reduce the value of the brand by between $US4 billion and $US20 billion. Steve Susi from Siegel & Gale says it took Twitter more than 15 years to earn that amount of brand equity globally, while Todd Irwin of brand agency Fazer notes that Twitter is one of the most recognisable social media brands. There have also been claims that Meta already owns the tradmark for the letter ‘X’ with regard to social media.

CORPORATES
TWITTER INCORPORATED, SIEGEL AND GALE INCORPORATED, FAZER

1.43 million Australians At Risk of mortgage stress in June 2023, representing 28.7% of mortgage holders

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Jul-23

New research from Roy Morgan shows that an estimated 1.43 million mortgage holders (28.7%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in the three months to June 2023. This period encompassed two interest rate increases of 0.25%, taking official interest rates to 4.1% in June. This is the equal highest number of mortgage holders considered ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress for more than 15 years, since there were 1.46 million ‘At Risk’ in May 2008. The number of Australians who are ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 539,000 over the last year. However, the overall number of Australians in mortgage stress remains below the high reached during the Global Financial Crisis in early 2008 of 35.6% (1,455,000 mortgage holders). Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ has increased to 943,000 (19.6%) in the three months to June, which is significantly above the long-term average over the last 15 years of 15.4%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 60,000 Australians each year including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Legal expert outraged by out of context inclusion in Voice No pamphlet

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lisa Visentin
The Age – Page: Online : 19-Jul-23

Constitutional lawyer Greg Craven supports the proposed Indigenous Voice to parliament; however, in comments made earlier in 2023 he was highly critical of the initial draft of the proposed model for the constitutional amendment, describing it as "fatally flawed". Craven is outraged that his words have been quoted in the ‘No’ campaign’s essay for the referendum pamplet, stating that his request to not be included in it had been ignored. Craven intends to make a formal complaint to the Australian Electoral Commission, although the AEC says it is legally required to publish both the Yes and No essays without any changes.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Rate hikes may cost even more jobs: RBA

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Jul-23

The minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s board meeting for July show that it considered a 25 basis point increase in the cash rate. The board also discussed the possibility that growing pressure on households’ budgets could result in consumption slowing more sharply than the current forecasts suggest. This would in turn result in slower demand for labour, while the unemployment rate would most likely rise beyond the rate required to ensure that inflation returns to the target range of 2-3 in a timely manner. National Australia Bank’s senior economist Adam Boynton expects interest rates to remain on hold, although he says a rate rise in August is still a possibility.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB