Up to 180 NAB jobs at risk, Virgin Galactic eyes Australian spaceport, and more top news
The news Australian professionals are talking about now, curated by LinkedIn’s editors. Join the conversation in the comments below.
Up to 180 staff could leave National Australia Bank, as a result of changes to its branch network. ABC News said employees were notified of the changes on Monday, which will mean there are fewer customer adviser roles. The bank said customers’ changing banking habits were behind the overhaul, and that no branches would close as a result. The bank was recently singled out for criticism by the royal commission, leading to the resignation of its chairman and CEO.
Virgin Galactic said it would like to put a spaceport in Australia, after another successful test flight and news the company could transport tourists to the edge of space by the end of the year. Richard Branson said talks are already underway with the new Australian Space Agency, but that Australia’s aviation regulations would need to be updated to include spaceships first. "We would love one day to set up an operation in Australia and to work with the Australian government in making that possible," Branson said.
Sydney Opera House ads ran on an anti-feminist YouTube videos, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, in the latest incident which highlights the challenges of advertising with global online platforms. According to the report, the Opera House was unknowingly advertising a show called The Choir of Man before YouTube videos which described single mothers as "terrible" and working mothers as "too busy at work to properly take care of their kids". Meanwhile, major Australian brands have reportedly halted their YouTube advertising over online safety concerns.
There should be a limit on the number of foreign students studying at Australian universities, according to the majority of respondents (paywall) to a national survey of more than 1500 people conducted by the University of New South Wales. International students have helped Australian universities grow at an impressive rate, but the surge in enrollment has led to criticism that educational standards have slipped. Students from China make up more than a third of international students studying at Australian universities, after enrollments from the country almost doubled since 2013.
Sell in the middle of a downturn, or hope a new tax rule doesn’t come into effect? That’s the choice expats who own homes in Australia are facing, after the government gave them until 30 June to sell their “main residence” in Australia or risk being handed a huge tax bill once a capital gains tax exemption is removed. The proposal is forecast to raise $581M over the forward estimates period, but it’s looking increasingly unlikely to make it through parliament before the election, and Labor has said it would be open to changing it.
Idea of the Day: Forgoing sleep to put in extra hours will only lead to a decrease in productivity, says Dr Travis Bradberry.
“Skipping sleep … slows your ability to process information and problem solve, kills your creativity, and catapults your stress levels and emotional reactivity.”
What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Lawyer & Coder | US Patentee & Data Breach Coach| LLM Governance Compliance
5 年I refer to " limit on the number of foreign students studying at Australian..." You don't have to limit it. All you have to do is to make a policy adjustment like all graduates have no right to apply for permanent visa until they leave Australia for a minimum of 2 years. That was the rule we had long ago in the 80s and worked well as many of us went around the world working everywhere but Australia to gain experiences. Of course the down-side is when it is time to seek work in Australia, employers will say we don't have any local experience. That inward looking mentality is still prevalent. In case you did not notice,?it is the abundance of foreign students that kept the cafes/restaurants/deliveries in Sydney and Melbourne in business and property rentals in city high. I had to work 2 jobs and never saw any whites in the Kitchen before. I think they have Austudy ?? Paid from my taxes.??
Business Solutions
5 年Sale sale sale. At all costs
Multi-disciplined troubleshooter and straight talker. Passionate for Systems Thinking/Dynamics.
5 年NAB saying "changing customer habits"? Rubbish. NAB is forcing a change to our habits - closing branches, no paper, on line banking, serf service bots, etc. Many still need to, and happy, to go to a branch to do certain transactions. But you won't let us. All this should at least drop service charges, but increase instead. Saying the customers want this is a lie. You never asked us, you just went and did it and now blaming customers for loss of jobs. Shame.
Formerly business owner @ Aussie Pooch
5 年Love the idea of a space port in Australia
ICT Counsel | Autodidact @ SYNC01? Global Outreach Mechanism?
5 年Deflowered ?? : )