Refunds cost Westpac $1B in profits, Tribunal calls 'House Rules' contestant an employee, and more top news

The news Australian professionals are talking about now, curated by LinkedIn’s editors. Join the conversation in the comments below.

Westpac says that its full-year profit will sustain a $1.13 billion hit related to costs from customer compensation and a significant restructure of its wealth arm, The Age reports. The announcement indicates that the bank’s shareholders will “continue to pay the price for past misconduct and mistakes.” Westpac’s results, due November 4, will incorporate a $341 million charge for “customer remediation,” and another $36 million associated with its "wealth reset." The bank previously announced $753 million was allocated to compensation-linked payments in the first half of the year. Here's what people are saying.

The NSW Workers Compensation Commission has ruled that a contestant on Seven’s “House Rules” was an employee of the production company and entitled to compensation. In a decision with massive implications for the television industry, the tribunal declared Nicole Prince an employee, owing to her remuneration and the integral role she played in its narrative. Prince had claimed psychological trauma from the “harassment and bullying” she endured participating in the show. The ruling could “open the door” to a cluster of former reality contestants to seek compensation from reality productions. Here’s what people are saying.

Once deemed the daggy domain of senior travelers and bargain hunters, cruising is enjoying a resurgence among Australian holiday makers, The AFR reports. This summer, more than 60 cruise ships will dock in Aussie ports as cruise lines are swarmed by a younger, more diverse group of travelers. The industry is booming globally too, with cruise holidays taken by 30 million people in 2019, up from 26 million in 2017. To cope with increased demand, Sydney is planning a third port and Brisbane’s new $158 million international cruise terminal will open its doors next August. Here’s what people are saying.

Meanwhile, the era of bespoke, indulgent and Instagram-friendly travel experiences has been surprisingly hostile to the independent hotel business model. Although roughly two-thirds of all hotels were deemed independent 30 years ago, most have either fled the market or been swallowed by one of the three behemoths that now dominate the industry. Today, less than 40% are independently owned and run. Even the holdouts frequently feel shunted into signing marketing affiliate deals with the big players to "tap into" their burgeoning customer bases. Here’s what people are saying. 

Those in the hiring seat at job interviews often decide whether they're going to employ a candidate after hearing them speak just seven words. Researchers at Yale University found recruiters make assumptions about people's class after just a few seconds of speech, and then make snap decisions. Dr Michael Kraus, an assistant professor at Yale, said those doing the interviewing may not intentionally discriminate in this way, but it does happen and the practice "limits economic mobility and perpetuates inequality". Here’s what people are saying.

Idea of the day: If you've never heard of shared value before, you are not alone. Coined post-GFC in 2011 by Harvard Business School Professors Michael Porter and Mark R. Kramer, shared value — as Shared Value Project chair Peter Yates AM tells LinkedIn's Natalie Macdonald — is "a business solving a social problem profitably".

"It's not business donating its employees' time to solve a social problem. And it's not business using its philanthropic funds... It's actually a business using its skills, capabilities and resources to solve an actual social problem."

What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.

— Andrew Murfett