Category: Business

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ANZ welcomes Federal funding for MoneyBusiness

Source: ANZ statements

Over the next twelve months, ICAN will upskill community professionals nationally on how to use MoneyBusiness financial education content to better support their clients.

MoneyBusiness is an ANZ initiative, developed to build the money management skills and confidence of Indigenous Australians.

ANZ developed MoneyBusiness in partnership with the Australian Government in 2005, following research which showed that financial exclusion was a significant problem among Indigenous communities. The program is estimated to have reached more than 90,000 First Nations people in 215 communities.

ANZ Head of Social Impact and Community Janet Liu said: “We’re proud MoneyBusiness has again been recognised for its contribution to the financial wellbeing of so many Indigenous Australians.”

“Financial wellbeing is a critical part of maintaining strong, thriving communities. We’re looking forward to working with ICAN and Federal Government on this expansion support more Indigenous Australians build on their financial skills,” said Liu.

ICAN CEO Aaron Davis said: “ICAN is committed to supporting financial wellbeing organsations build their workforce capacity through our registered training organisation, ICAN Learn.”

“As an organisation that provides financial counselling and capability services in regional Australia, ICAN knows how important it is to create local employment pathways and how much programs like MoneyBusiness can assist in that journey.”

“ICAN’s focus of developing the Indigenous financial capability workforce nationally through targeted training initiatives aligns perfectly with the goals of the MoneyBusiness program.”

For more detail about the training, including eligibility and delivery location please contact ICAN Learn at moneybusiness@icanlearn.edu.au or via phone 03 5471 777.

About MoneyBusiness

MoneyBusiness brings together ANZ’s knowledge and experience in financial literacy and the Australian Government’s overview of service delivery. ANZ developed a comprehensive set of community workshop materials in consultation with local communities and Indigenous workers who ensured the information was culturally appropriate and relevant to the target audience.

The program is delivered by ANZ and its community partners, including ICAN and the Federal Government.

About ICAN

ICAN provides consumer education, advocacy, and financial counselling services to people across north and far north Queensland. In 2017 ICAN created, ICAN Learn, a registered training organisation to build vocational education pathways for its Team, Community and the national Financial Wellbeing Sector more broadly. Building the capacity of these three distinct groups is a crucial step for ICAN to:

  • Develop career pathways within ICAN for First Nations peoples and financial counsellors servicing First Nations communities.
  • Provide quality financial wellbeing services to First Nations communities and employment/economic development programs.
  • Develop career pathways throughout the financial wellbeing sector, prioritising the professionalisation of the national financial capability workforce.

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ANZ Plus expands home lending eligibility criteria alongside new tools and features

Source: ANZ statements

This regional expansion comes among a suite of new tools and features including offset accounts, insights to help customers own their home sooner and the ability for customers to apply to take cash out of their home equity for home improvements, vehicle purchases or other lifestyle expenses.

Maile Carnegie, Group Executive Australia Retail said: “As we continue to build on our ANZ Plus home lending offering, we’re able to provide customers with more personalisation and features to help them better understand their home loans and improve their financial wellbeing.

“Owning a home is one of the biggest financial commitments most people will make in their lifetime, and we believe the process of finding the right home loan should be as easy and convenient as possible. The expanded eligibility, along with the addition of new features, like Home Loan Insights, offset and our upgraded website which allows customers to get a valuation for their property before applying, enables more customers to interact with ANZ Plus.”

The new ANZ Plus Home Loan features include:

A new offset feature allows customers to use their eligible ANZ Plus everyday account balances to reduce the interest they pay on their ANZ Plus Home Loan. The offset can be turned off and on as needed. A monthly fee of $10 applies.

ANZ Plus home loan customers can now apply to access home equity for home improvement, a vehicle purchase or other lifestyle expenses. This feature builds on ANZ’s commitment to support financial wellbeing, making it easier for customers to access funds to improve their homes and lives.

A new Insights tab shows customers how far ahead on their home loan they are and presents three simple steps they can take to get further ahead – make a lump sum payment, increase auto-repayments and turn on offset. Customers are shown an estimate of how much time will be shaved off their final loan repayment date as they make these changes, helping them to own their home sooner.  

  • Explore via the web

Potential customers can explore the ANZ Plus Home Loan offer via the website, see estimated repayments and get a valuation for their property, and if right for them, transition to the ANZ Plus app where their loan preferences will be saved and ready for them when they join ANZ Plus. 

Since launch, ANZ Plus has expanded its home lending eligibility by increasing the maximum loan value to $2 million, allowing Foreign Tax residents and permanent residents to apply and expanding locations to include eligible properties in five states and territories.

The end-to-end digital home lending process can be completed quickly and easily within the ANZ Plus mobile app including selfie verification before customers electronically sign their loan documents.

Built by ANZ, ANZ Plus continues to be one of the fastest growing digital banking platforms in Australia, with more than $15 billion in deposits and 800,000 customers, 41% of whom are new to ANZ.

For more information visit: https://www.anz.com.au/plus

About ANZ Plus: 

  • ANZ Plus utilises modern technology, resulting in the delivery of not just a new app or new product offering, but a new retail banking platform for ANZ.
  • ANZ Plus launched its first transact and save products to customers in 2022, with the initial home loan added late-2023

 

About ANZ Plus home lending:

  • The ANZ Plus Home Loan Variable is digital-first, data-driven, highly automated and supported by ANZ Plus Coaches. With ANZ Plus home lending eligible customers who wish to refinance can:
    • Verify their identity in a few minutes via the app with no paper required.
    • See a valuation of their home, so they can apply with confidence knowing it’s the valuation used to assess their application.
    • Receive their loan documents – written in simple language – in seconds.
    • Access ANZ Plus Coaches who are on hand to help via chat, phone or secure in-app video call.

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Government cuts to pay parity don’t help children

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

Government cuts to pay parity for some early childhood teachers shows the Government isn’t listening to the workers in the sector, said CTU Vice President Rachel Mackintosh.

“All teachers deserve to be paid fairly. We have a shortage of qualified early childhood staff in Aotearoa and are already losing teachers overseas. Reducing pay and conditions for relief teachers won’t make that problem any better,” said Mackintosh.

“With the sector in crisis, the last thing we need is the Government adding more fuel to that fire. The early childhood education sector already has poor teacher-child ratios, an over-burdened workforce, and difficulties in securing learning support for children who need it. Qualified and experienced relief teachers play an essential role in the sector, and reducing their pay won’t help address any of these issues.

“This is just another step in devaluing teachers by this Government. After years of hard work by teaching staff and whānau to get pay parity for this workforce, repealing a key section of it shows that they don’t understand the sector. The only beneficiaries of this decision are agencies providing teaching staff who will make more profit, and for-profit ECE centres that will use it to reduce their costs. It’s putting profit before education.

“Our concern is that this is just the start of a campaign against workers, whānau and tamariki by prioritising the wish lists of employers and business as we are seeing in proposed reforms to health and safety and employment legislation.

“The Government must prioritise listening to early childhood teachers and parents who want better and higher quality ECE services with qualified teachers. That means teachers need to be paid well. Taking pay parity away make it worse,” said Mackintosh.

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Consumer confidence: inflation expectations lowest since late 2021

Source: ANZ statements

“Consumer Confidence has moved within a tight range over the past four weeks, with the series retaining most of the increases seen in late July and early August.” ANZ Economist, Madeline Dunk said.

“Households’ confidence in their future financial situation rose to a five-month high last week and is now back in ‘positive’ territory.”

“This is the only subindex currently sitting above 100 points. Inflation expectations also eased 0.2 percentage point to 4.6 per cent, its lowest reading since late 2021.”

“The shift in these indicators may be linked to last week’s monthly inflation data, which showed a fall in both headline and trimmed mean inflation. After accelerating earlier in 2024, inflation appears to be back on the path to target.”

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Maritime Union commemorates Merchant Navy Day 2024

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Union representing New Zealand seafarers is commemorating Merchant Navy Day, held internationally each year on 3 September.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Carl Findlay says Merchant Navy Day holds profound significance for the Maritime Union “as we remember our seafaring members past and present.”

“In the great conflicts of the 20th Century, seafarers showed courage and resilience. Their work ensured the safe passage of essential supplies, troops, and equipment.”

Mr Findlay says global conflict continues to impact on the safety and wellbeing of seafarers in international waters.

He says as we reflect on the past, we must consider the challenges faced by modern-day seafarers. 

“As an island nation, Aotearoa New Zealand relies heavily on seafarers, and the vast majority of New Zealand’s goods continues to be carried by sea.”

Mr Findlay says the maritime industry has evolved, but the life of a seafarer remains demanding and fraught with difficulties. 

Long periods away from home, isolation, and the physical and mental toll of the job are just a few of the issues seafarers contend with. 

The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact, with many international seafarers stranded at sea for extended periods, unable to return to their families. 

Mr Findlay says the Maritime Union of New Zealand is committed to advocating for seafarers’ rights, ensuring fair working conditions, and providing the support they need. 

The Maritime Union of New Zealand is affiliated to the International Transport Workers’ Federation, which represents over 1 million seafarers in over 200 seafarers’ unions across 106 countries.

MUNZ is also working for the future of New Zealand coastal shipping.

Mr Findlay says New Zealand faces a crisis in our seafaring workforce due to a shrinking number of New Zealand flagged and crewed vessels, an ageing workforce and lack of training opportunities.

“Today, as we pay tribute to our seafarers of the past and present, let us also advocate for a new generation of New Zealand seafarers.”

He says we must continue to work for a maritime industry that values and respects its workforce. 

“This means investing in training, ensuring safe working conditions, and rebuilding our New Zealand merchant fleet.”

Mr Findlay says the task today is to continue to represent New Zealand seafarers and campaign for a strong New Zealand merchant fleet, and to play our role in defending the rights of all seafarers who work in our waters.

The Merchant Navy in history: background

During the Second World War, thousands of New Zealand seafarers volunteered to serve in the Merchant Navy.

They sailed shipments of fuel, food and other essential supplies across the world, and delivered troops and military equipment where they were needed.

The work was important and extremely dangerous. 4,700 Allied merchant ships were sunk during the conflict, and 30,000 Allied merchant seamen lost their lives.

This included New Zealand ships like the Turakina and the Limerick, and at least 140 Kiwi merchant seafarers were killed with a similar number taken prisoner.

The Merchant Navy faced greater danger than any other group of New Zealand civilians. Their sacrifice and heroism will be remembered.

Maritime Union in history

The Maritime Union and its predecessors have the longest history of any union in New Zealand.

MUNZ was formed when the Waterfront Workers’ Union and New Zealand Seafarers’ Union joined together in 2002.

The first Seamen’s Union was formed in 1879 and it was a trans-Tasman Union with members in Australia and New Zealand. 

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ANZ-Indeed Australian Job Ads: down 15.3 per cent in 2024

Source: ANZ statements

ANZ Economist, Madeline Dunk said: “ANZ-Indeed Australian Job Ads declined in August for the seventh consecutive month to be down 15.3% so far in 2024. Yet employment has risen by 318k in 2024 (273k in full-time employment), and six-month average employment growth is running at its strongest pace since late 2022. Part of the decline in the series (which measures total job ads rather than new job ads) is likely due to workers finding jobs. Labour supply is pushing higher, with the participation rate hitting a record 67.1% in July. The female participation rate lifted to a new peak of 63.2%, while the male participation rate was the highest since January 2016 at 71.2%. The downward trend in Job Ads and the move upward in the unemployment rate suggests that labour supply and demand are moving towards balance.”

Indeed Senior Economist, Callam Pickering said: “In August, Job Ads continued to fall across most states, led by Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland, which more than offset gains across South Australia and Tasmania. The 22.9% decline in Job Ads over the past year has been concentrated in New South Wales and Victoria, with more modest falls elsewhere. Defying national trends, Job Ads jumped in August in key sectors, such as retail trade, education and food preparation. For retail trade, August marks the beginning of the Christmas hiring period, with opportunities set to rise sharply over the next few months.”

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Grounding of Manahau barge at Westport raises major questions

Source: Maritime Union of New Zealand

The Maritime Union says the grounding of the barge Manahau overnight near Westport raises major questions.

Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Carl Findlay says concerns had been previously raised by New Zealand seafarers about the foreign crew and flag of the barge.

He says the cause of the grounding has yet to be confirmed, but the difficult local conditions at Westport including recent poor weather would be obvious issues to consider.

There had been no reports of injuries, which was fortunate as the West Coast was a notoriously treacherous maritime environment.

The 97.53-metre and 3706-GT self-powered barge Manahau had only just come into service in August 2024 carrying mineral sands out of shallow draught port Westport to Nelson.

Mr Findlay says the Manahau did not have a New Zealand crew and the flag state was Niue. 

“Vessels such as the Manahau operating in New Zealand’s unique and challenging maritime environment should be crewed by experienced New Zealand seafarers.”

The operators of the Manahau had benefited from Government funding for the vessel.

Mr Findlay says it had been extremely disappointing to see this substantial Government funding go towards a vessel operating in New Zealand waters that was neither New Zealand flagged nor crewed.

“In the last several years, we saw an upsurge in New Zealand crewed coastal shipping, but this is now going backwards with the loss of coastal shipping services, or in this case, failing to provide jobs for skilled local crews.” 

“New Zealand needs to build its coastal shipping capacity, and that means New Zealand owned, operated and crewed ships.”

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Customers set to spend big this Father’s Day

Source: ANZ statements

In 2023, ANZ customers spent a total of over $932 million, an increase of 4% year-on-year from 2022. Over $883 million was spent domestically in Australia.

ANZ data trends suggest customers may continue to spend millions of dollars on meals with their fathers, with $105 million spent on takeaway, restaurants and cafes over the Father’s Day weekend in 2023 – up 2% year-on-year. Entertainment saw a 10% surge in 2023, with a total of $48 million spent over the same weekend.

ANZ Deposits and Payments Lead, Australia Retail, Yiken Yang said: “Spending at wineries and bottle shops continues to be popular, with ANZ data revealing $45 million was spent on this category during the 2023 Father’s Day weekend.”

“One of the biggest year-on-year increases was in travel expenditure – $25 million – up 18% from 2022, underscoring the growing popularity of gifting experiences, such as accommodation or flight vouchers, as opposed to physical goods.”

“Interestingly, spending on welfare and charitable services leapt 33% year-on-year, to $5 million, possibly reflecting the tradition of gifting a donation on behalf of someone. Father’s Day also drove a 23% increase in spending on memberships, worth an additional $730,000 spent over Father’s Day weekend.”

“Marine services, supply and rentals saw another big year-on-year increase, up 41% in 2023, compared to the same period in 2022.”

ANZ customers in Victoria spent the most of any state, however those in the Northern Territory and South Australia spent more over the entirety of the weekend, compared to other weekends in September. This represents an additional $874,000 in the Northern Territory and $6.4m in South Australia.

ANZ customers continue to use unique phrases when sending money over the Father’s Day period. Some of the most popular transaction messages have included: cooldad, papa, lunch, love, present, love you dad, dads gift, dinner and happy father’s day.

STATE BY STATE COMPARISON – ANZ CUSTOMER CREDIT AND DEBIT CARD DATA

Victoria

  • Victoria’s total Father’s Day spend last year was $244.4m, up from $235.1m in 2022.
  • Victorian customers’ spending on Father’s Day in 2023 was the highest in Australia.

New South Wales

  • In total, customers in NSW spent $229.4m on Father’s Day in 2023, an increase from $220.9m.
  • Spending by NSW customers was the second highest in the country.

Queensland

  • Queensland customers spent $170.2m over the Father’s Day period last year. The total Queensland spend on Father’s Day in 2022 was $163.6m.
  • Queensland was the third-highest spending state, over the Father’s Day period in 2023, behind Victoria and NSW.

Western Australia

  • Last year, customers in WA spent a total of $120.8m on Father’s Day, up from $114.3m in 2022.

South Australia

  • South Australian customers increased their Father’s Day spending to $68.3m in 2023. Customers spent $63m on Father’s Day in the previous year.

Tasmania

  • Tasmania’s total Father’s Day spend was $20.2m in 2023, an increase from $19.7m in 2022.

Northern Territory

  • Customers in the NT spent a total of $8.8m in 2023, up from $8.6m on Father’s Day in 2022.

Australian Capital Territory

  • In total, customers in the ACT spent $13.9 on Father’s Day in 2023, compared to $14.1m in 2022.
  • ACT is the only state or territory to have spent less on Father’s Day in 2023 than in 2022, according to ANZ customer data.

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Opening Statement – ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott appearance before House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics

Source: ANZ statements

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.

Joining me is Maile Carnegie, Group Executive for our Australia Retail business.

Maile and I look forward to discussing with you issues like the cost of living, scams and interest rates.

Before we get into these, however, I would like to first address recent developments relating to ANZ.

Last Friday, APRA announced that it would increase ANZ’s capital add-on due to concerns with our non-financial risk management practices.

We acknowledge these concerns.

For some time now, we have had a program of work to improve how we manage non-financial risk.

While this program has delivered positive progress, we clearly have more work do.

We’re also working with APRA on the scope of an independent culture and control review within our Markets business which will report to the Board.

APRA’s announcement has occurred as we face three matters in parts of our Markets business:

  • Data reporting errors with regards to information provided to the Australian Office of Financial Management, known as AOFM
  • An investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission into our involvement with a Treasury bond issuance in 2023

and

  • Conduct and behavioural matters primarily within our Sydney dealing room.

On the data reporting issue, I have personally apologised to the Chief Executive at AOFM and we are reviewing and improving our relevant processes.

On ASIC’s investigation into the bond issuance, we are taking this very seriously.

We have undertaken detailed work in connection with this matter and continue to examine the issues.

There has been speculation that potential misconduct by ANZ in connection with this issuance may have cost taxpayers.

From what I have seen, there is no evidence of this. 

In saying this, I acknowledge that we do not have all the information that ASIC has, and our position will be reviewed in coming months.

On the conduct issues, a broad number of allegations have been externally examined.

Three people have subsequently left the bank.

The ANZ Board is monitoring the APRA and Markets matters very closely, and work is continuing.

The Board will ensure there are appropriate consequences for proven failures or misconduct.

As the Committee may appreciate, there is a limit to how much I can discuss these matters today.

However, I assure the Committee that we are taking them very seriously.

Turning to how our customers are managing in the current economic environment, the nation appears to be emerging from a difficult period of inflation.

The price increases that have been hurting Australians are starting to moderate, and Wednesday’s CPI figure was further welcome news.

We still expect the Reserve Bank to reduce the cash rate by 75 basis points next year, with the first cut in February.

Lower interest rates will be welcome relief for borrowers who have faced higher debt costs for some time, although savers will face lower returns.

We are very conscious of the pressure that higher debt costs have placed on many of our customers, who are also managing bigger bills for everyday essentials.

That said, the aggregate data we look at suggests that, overall, our customers have been holding up well.

While our latest published figures showed an increase in the number of ANZ home loan customers in hardship, they remained low at around three in every 1,000 people.

Those figures also showed that mortgage offset balances continued to increase, and early data suggests that home loan customers have increased their savings following the recent stage 3 tax cuts.

Moreover, although stress among credit card customers is slightly up, they are not showing signs of dependency on their credit limits for basic living expenses.

As you may appreciate, our small business customers are also facing higher costs, including for wages.

And we know from ASIC insolvency data that more businesses through the economy are getting into trouble.

However, our data seems to suggest that small business customers at ANZ are managing well despite the current conditions.

Published figures for our small business customers indicated that around two in every 1,000 were in hardship.

This is encouraging and suggests many of our small business customers are managing the challenges of today’s economy well.

Of course, under the headline figures are people finding it harder to pay for housing and everyday expenses, and businesses struggling with higher costs.

We expect that more people and business will sadly get into difficulty in the coming months.

Because some customers are hesitant to ask for help, we are trying to reach out sooner.

We are using data analytics and modelling to identify hardship triggers, such as reduced income or negative cashflow.

When we contact these customers, we let them know what we can do to help.

This may include pausing or reducing payments or restructuring their loan.

The other area where we are trying to help is by investing in prevention and detection tools to address the terrible impact of scams on our customers.

These include our Falcon card technology and new methods such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and biometrics.

From October 2023 to June 2024, total scam losses suffered by our customers fell by almost half, while the number of scam events decreased by a third compared with the same period in 2023.

In that time, we have also prevented more than $100 million of customer funds going to criminals.

However, the rate of harm is still too high, and we’ll continue to work on measures to protect our customers.

To finish, I am pleased that we completed our acquisition of Suncorp Bank one month ago.

We have now welcomed around 3,000 employees and 1.2 million customers into the ANZ Group, and look forward to giving them a great place to work and bank.

We’re excited about the opportunity to play a bigger role in Queensland, including through a new digital hub that will help grow the state’s tech sector and open strong career pathways for Queenslanders, while giving ANZ a key platform to continue to deliver innovation to its customers.

Thank you and we look forward to your questions.

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E tū National Media Delegates Committee statement on the use of AI in journalism – E tū

Source: Etu Union

E tū represents working journalists in Aotearoa New Zealand wanting a meaningful say over how generative artificial intelligence (AI) is used in the industry.  

AI can’t tell a fact from a lie. It can even create its own lie and amplify it. We accept AI is here, but media outlets must cooperate with their workers in how it is used and developed.    

  • Priority should always be given to real journalists and human sources in telling our stories.   
  • AI cannot replace the brain and integrity of a reporter, storyteller, producer, technician, or broadcaster doing what they’re great at. Media companies must respect the rights of content creators and their sources.  
  • Journalists should be at the forefront of understanding the opportunities and limitations of using AI in a way that supports newsrooms and public trust in the media.  
  • Māori journalists should be fully engaged in any development and use of AI to ensure Te Tiriti principles, te reo Maori and Māori representation in Aotearoa’s newsrooms are advanced.  
  • The languages from which AI learns include little Māori or indigenous content. AI tools typically generate content using a hegemonic lens which is unrepresentative of our diverse society.  
  • AI is good for some things but potentially disastrous for others. Commercial considerations for the development and deployment of AI must be balanced by the fundamental importance of truth and integrity in storytelling.  

E tū media members are seeking to develop sector-wide guidelines for the deployment of AI in New Zealand journalism.  

We will be asking key stakeholders to join a working group for this purpose and we believe the Government has a role to play in protecting journalism for the public good.  

This work is urgent in the face of AI being rolled out in ways that are already changing our stories.  

This is part of a worldwide push by journalists to have meaningful engagement over AI through the work of the International Journalists Federation, as illustrated by the Paris Charter developed by Reporters Without Borders, and initiatives of the Australian Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.