Australians over 65 now hold 773,000 jobs
Australians aged 65 and over held around 773,000 jobs in June 2026, up from just 160,000 in 1996. Their share of all filled jobs has risen from 1.8 to 4.7 per cent.
Nick Hossack
Consolidation and rise of the superannuation mega-funds
Australia had 130 APRA-regulated super funds in June 2021. Five years later there are just 66, while member benefits have risen to $3.2 trillion and the top ten funds now control more than 60 per cent.
Women hold more than 50% of all jobs in Australia
Women now hold 50.2 per cent of Australian filled jobs. But men still hold more main jobs — the difference is explained by women’s much greater share of secondary employment.
Investors now demand more than 5% to lend to the US Government for 30 years
Something unusual is happening in the world's most important bond market.
Investors now demand more than 5% a year to lend money to the US Government for 30 years, with the 30-year Treasury yield recently reaching its highest level in almost two decades.
A Treasury bond is
Jim Chalmers has a fair criticism of Qld Government
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers is hardly a neutral observer of Queensland politics, but on the state's finances he has a point.
Queensland is reportedly on the brink of another S&P credit-rating downgrade. Chalmers described the prospect as “very troubling”, arguing that Queensland's fiscal
Snapshot of central bank policy interest rates
Central banks are moving in markedly different directions. Australia has raised its policy rate by 0.75 percentage points over the past year, while the US has cut by the same amount.
Australia’s industrial strikes have not disappeared — but they have collapsed
Australia’s industrial disputes data show a recent lift in activity, but the deeper story is the extraordinary long-run decline in strikes and working days lost since the 1980s.
Australia’s governments do not have a revenue problem. They have a spending addiction.
New ABS Government Finance Statistics show total government revenue increased by 6.6% in 2025–26, adding $66.5 billion to government coffers. Tax revenue grew even faster, rising 7.0%.
Yet government expenses increased by 8.2%, or $84.4 billion.
The result was a net operating deficit of
Housing approvals still below 1.2 million-home target pace
Australia’s housing approval pipeline is recovering, but the latest ABS figures show approvals are still running about 8% below the annual pace implied by the National Housing Accord target.
ANZ under Nuno Matos: growth remains a work in progress
ANZ has kept pace with the major banks in investor housing under Nuno Matos, but APRA data show weaker relative growth across business lending, owner-occupied mortgages and deposits.
NAB under Andrew Irvine: business banking strong, investor housing the weak spot
More than two years into Andrew Irvine’s tenure, NAB is outperforming the banking system in business lending but losing ground in investor mortgages.
Westpac under Anthony Miller: business growth strong, housing still lagging
Westpac is growing strongly in business lending and deposits under CEO Anthony Miller, but APRA data show it continues to lose relative ground in housing.
Strong growth in instant payments - NPP
Australia’s payments transformation continues, with rapid growth in real-time NPP transfers, rising card spending, fewer ATM withdrawals and another sharp fall in cheque use.