Government, regulation, monetary policy and geopolitics — the decisions in Canberra and abroad that set the rules for business.
The fifth increase of the year takes the cash rate to its highest level since late 2008. Three board members wanted to wait, and Macquarie was first to pass the rise on in full.
After pushback from café owners and small business groups, the Minns government has dropped two contentious parts of its plastics reforms. Other changes, including recyclable takeaway cups, stay on track.
1 Nov 2026
Draft regulations would lift the revenue test to $100 million and the assets test to $50 million from mid-2027, a change the government says will save business more than $210 million a year.
31 Oct 2026
A House committee will examine how to keep the 217-year-old postal service sustainable and accessible, with a report due in the second quarter of 2027.
30 Oct 2026
The Treasurer says the budget is not the main driver of 4.3% inflation and that it “can’t afford” to keep cutting fuel costs, as the Coalition presses on spending ahead of a likely rate rise.
29 Oct 2026
Vendors are telling small businesses the A$3 million exemption dies on 10 December. It does not. Something else does, and it is narrower than the marketing.
24 Oct 2026
Retail, fast food and pharmacy employers have six weeks before the first step of a wage increase that runs to 2029, and payroll triggers on service rather than birthdays.
24 Oct 2026
Nine dated changes, in order, with the proposals marked as proposals. Most of them need work started well before the date itself.
23 Oct 2026
The unfair trading practices regime reads like a story about airlines and ticketing platforms. Small businesses with a booking fee or an auto-renewing membership should read it as their own.
23 Oct 2026
Mandatory climate reporting will never apply to most small businesses directly. That is not the same as it never reaching them.
21 Oct 2026
A 30 per cent minimum tax on discretionary trust income is in Parliament. The small business exemption meant to soften it has cost the government the votes it needs to pass it.
20 Oct 2026
Only a handful of card acceptance plans have passed on the Reserve Bank's interchange reduction, and the data that would settle the question does not land until January.
19 Oct 2026
A Far North Queensland supermarket is handing back more than it pays to accept cards. The Reserve Bank left the door open for exactly this, and thinks it is a bad idea.
19 Oct 2026
Around 100,000 small firms came under anti-money laundering law on 1 July. The infringement notices began at the end of September, at A$21,840 a time.
14 Oct 2026
Australia's first dedicated crypto law brings exchanges under the same licensing regime as brokers and fund managers. If you hold a few thousand dollars in bitcoin, here is what changes and what stays exactly as risky as before.
10 Oct 2026
Small businesses are now more than half the claimants. The audit office found most compliance activity turned up non-compliance, and the bill can arrive years after the money is spent.
5 Oct 2026
A crude price spike does not hit the household budget all at once. It moves through the economy in a sequence, starting at the petrol pump and ending, eventually, in the inflation figures.
25 Sep 2026
Both sides have agreed to extend the current tariff pause while negotiators work toward a broader deal.
7 Sep 2026
Brussels is seeking to diversify supply chains away from reliance on Chinese-processed materials.
15 Aug 2026
A new ceasefire framework has lowered risk premiums across regional oil and shipping markets.
21 Jul 2026
The expansion strengthens a regional trade framework seen as a counterweight to Chinese economic influence.
27 Jun 2026
