Unwinding COVID-19 Relief COVID-19 support will roll back as states and territories reach vaccination targets. The National Plan, the road map out of COVID-19, does more than provide greater freedoms at 70% and 80% full vaccination rates, it withdraws the steady stream of Commonwealth financial support to individuals and business impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns and [...]
The Stimulus Package: What You Need To Know The Government has announced a $17.6 billion investment package to support the economy as we brace for the impact of the coronavirus. The yet to be legislated four-part package focuses on business investment, sustaining employers and driving cash into the economy. For business Business investment Increase and [...]
Bushfire support and assistance Ten million hectares, lives lost, wildlife on the brink, billions in lost revenue and clean-up costs. For many, returning life to normal is a long way off this summer. We summarise the help available to those impacted by the bushfires. What we can do for you If you are impacted by [...]
Bushfire relief from ATO obligations The ATO has provided relief from lodgement compliance and payment obligations for those impacted by the bushfires. An automatic two month deferral for activity statements lodgements and payments due has been provided to those in affected postcodes. Taxpayers can also call the ATO directly to request further assistance, such [...]
Australia embraces Black Friday and Cyber Monday The Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale concepts have well and truly arrived in Australia with retailers embracing this latest retail event to stimulate what has been an economically lack lustre year. Why ‘Black Friday’? For many Australians, Black Friday is just confusing – shouldn’t Black Friday’ [...]
International Women’s Day: Has anything changed? Women and girls make up just over half (50.7%) of the Australian population. While women comprise roughly 47% of all employees in Australia, they take home on average $251.20 less than men each week (full-time adult ordinary earnings). The national gender “pay gap” is 15.3% and it has remained [...]
Legislation in limbo A budget, an election and the legislation that hasn’t made it through. The February 2019 Parliamentary sitting days were the last opportunity before the Federal Budget for the Government to introduce or push through new legislation. Next month, on 2 April, Parliament reconvenes for the Federal Budget and it’s likely that an [...]
You’ve been scammed, hacked or breached! Another year, another scam. While data driven crime is more sophisticated and difficult to address than ever, human error and judgement remains one of the major problems. The latest data breach report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is surprising for the simplicity of the problems [...]
What would happen if…. Life does not always go to plan. While we logically know that, most of us don’t plan for the worst - it’s all a bit morbid and time consuming. The downside of not planning is the potential for hard earned assets to be squandered, family fall-outs, and money handed to the [...]
How tampons became a political debate GST is applied to tampons but not to incontinence pads. Viagra is exempt from GST but nipple shields for breast feeding mothers are not. Breakfast cereals are GST-free but breakfast bars and drinks are taxable. We explore the political football of GST exemptions. Australia’s goods and services tax (GST) [...]
