Office tenants pushing for more EV infrastructure

Australia needs to increase its electric vehicle (EV) charging stock to prepare for an expected influx of EVs in coming years, according to new research from property group CBRE. To gauge infrastructure readiness, CBRE conducted a stocktake of EV charging stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth by analysing: 80 major premium office buildings with … Read more

Social media platforms slammed for anti-competitive behaviour

Small businesses are suffering harm from Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms, according to a new report from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC). The report, which examined how consumers and businesses interact with social media services, found evidence of: Excessive data collection practices. Widespread scam activity. Lack of effective dispute resolution options. … Read more

What the federal budget means for small business

The federal government delivered a range of small business-friendly programs and incentives in its recent budget. Under the Energy Bill Relief Fund, eligible small businesses will receive up to $650 in electricity bill relief. Under the Small Business Energy Incentive, businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $50 million will be able to deduct … Read more

Top 10 commercial property asset types revealed

Commercial vendors and buyers have become more cautious as interest rates have been rising. Nevertheless, there were still more than $17 billion worth of sub-$5 million transactions conducted during the year to May 2023, according to Ray White Commercial Head of Research Vanessa Rader. The asset types that attracted the most activity were: Retail shops … Read more

How to protect yourself from scams and identity theft

Scamwatch has urged businesses and consumers to be on the lookout for increased scam activity and to take steps to protect themselves. Criminals use data breaches, such as the 2022 Optus data breach, to target people through phishing emails, phone calls, and SMS or social media messages, according to Scamwatch. To protect yourself, don’t click … Read more

Some lenders plan to scrap cashbacks

Refinancing cashback deals may become a thing of the past, after several big banks and smaller lenders, including Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Bankwest, announced they planned to phase out the incentive. Now that some institutions have made the first move, it wouldn’t be surprising if other lenders followed suit, because cashback deals can have more … Read more

First home buyer activity rises, despite challenges

This is a pretty good time to be a first-home buyer, according to one of Australia’s leading property economists. Ray White Group Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee said there are four things in favour of first-home buyers right now: Property prices are lower than this time last year. Owning has become more appealing because rents are … Read more

Australia’s biggest banks unveil anti-scam platform

Seventeen banks – including the big four – have signed up to a “near real-time reporting” system that is designed to reduce scam activity. The Fraud Reporting Exchange (FRX) will give the participating banks a way to quickly communicate with each other as fraudulent payments are transferred from one institution to another. That is expected … Read more