Is the Pharmacy Guild protecting you or itself?
Published 23 August 2019
Pharmacies are among the best protected small businesses in Australia. The Pharmacy Guild wants you to believe that that is for your own good. But is it?
Poverty waits for no one, not even inquisitive senators
Published 23 August 2019
It may be the best our federal Parliament can do right now, but people on Newstart deserve better than a Senate inquiry which is to report sometime next year.
Who let public housing down?
Published 23 August 2019
OVER the last decade State and Territory Governments have allowed for over 20,000 public housing dwellings to be lost. In order to pick up the slack, non-profit providers have increased the amount of homes they operate but it is not keeping pace with demand. [more]
Downsizing? Here’s how to dodge dodgy apartment buildings
Published 23 August 2019
Downsizing into an apartment may be an attractive idea, but how do you find an apartment building without significant defects? A few tips to avoid the worst disasters.
Earle Haven and Bupa Eden: Australia’s first two rogue nursing homes
Published 22 July 2019
No clearer case and example of profit-over-people was on display in Queensland this July, where 70 nursing home residents were simply abandoned in their beds and wheelchairs over a commercial dispute between a principal and subcontractor. [more]
Warning, Danger, Flashing Lights: avoid DomaCom equity release!
Published 22 July 2019
Home equity release is a polite term for hocking your house. Now there's a new way of paying home equity release providers even more for the privilege of taking over your house before you have died.
Australia’s first Ageing and Disability Commissioner
Published 22 July 2019
NSW is the first jurisdiction in which an Office of Ageing and Disability Commissioner has been established. Other states and territories would do well to follow NSW’s lead.
Will new rules keep energy retailers in line?
Published 22 July 2019
Energy companies, once the stodgiest but most reliable companies in Australia, joined the ranks of corporate spivs and rip-off merchants some years ago. Will the latest initiative by the ACCC reign them in?
Are you embedded electricity-wise?
Published 22 July 2019
An embedded supply system sounds kind of exciting, but it's only water, gas and electricity we're talking about. How exciting or otherwise are embedded systems?
Here’s how to self-manage your externally self-managed super
Published 22 July 2019
Self-managed super has flourished as a result of action taken by millions of Australians who were determined not to be ripped off by the financial sector. But how badly do people really want to self-manage their super? Are they now being ripped off by accountants, auditors and unsavoury financial planners? Enter industry fund HostPlus. [more]
Find your rebates and discounts!
Published 26 June 2019
THE NSW Government is now helping you find rebates and savings that are relevant to you. Service NSW has rolled out its Cost of Living service, which can identify which of the 70 rebates and savings you are eligible for.
Save on energy with NSW Energy Switch
Published 26 June 2019
ENERGY Switch is a free Service NSW online tool that allows you to compare the electricity and gas plans of all NSW household electricity providers, and switch effortlessly to a different plan if you want to.
Bupa Traralgon Class Action
Published 26 June 2019
BUPA aged care is in trouble. Eleven out of 76 are currently the subject of compliance action and a further 19 have been the subject of compliance action in recent times.
Aged care: is a blunt instrument being sharpened?
Published 26 June 2019
How much does it cost to look after a nursing home resident given their health and needs? The current system comes up with a figure, but nobody really knows what it is based on. Time to change from a blunt funding instrument to a sharp one. [more]
Regional Transport Seniors Card: $250
Published 26 June 2019
STARTING on 1 January 2020, the Regional Transport Seniors Card will provide a credit of $250 a year to be used towards fuel, taxi fares in rural and regional NSW and pre-booked NSW TrainLink train and coach services.
Government sets itself up for unreal retirement income review
Published 26 June 2019
WHAT is the point of a review of how the pension, superannuation and tax interact when you say upfront that you are not going to change superannuation and you're not going to change tax?
NBN: landline phone only options
Published 26 June 2019
YOU are going to have to engage with the NBN if you want to keep your good old-fashioned home telephone. That old telephone will run through the NBN internet network, whether you have a computer or not.
Digital life after death
Published 26 June 2019
WHAT happens to our online accounts when we die? With so much information and transaction being online these days, you want to find out.
Class action to claim back lost pension entitlements
Published 11 June 2019
An Age Pensioner has been successful in claiming back substantial pension reductions after Centrelink incorrectly assessed an inheritance received by them.
Bupa Willoughby: why mandatory staff ratios are the only way
Published 28 May 2019
Bupa Willoughby's evidence at the Royal Commission into Aged Care is proof that putting nursing homes in charge of setting their own staffing ratios represents a severe case of handing over the keys to the blood bank to Count Dracula. [more]
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