Zumbo enters voluntary administration, bank fines fund new super centre, and more top news

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

Adriano Zumbo’s business has been placed in voluntary administration. The celebrity dessert maker’s company held a creditors meeting and Good Food reported attendees were told debts could reach $10m but assets, including equipment and property, could be worth $8m. The MasterChef regular has eight stores in Sydney and Melbourne selling high-end macarons, cakes and savoury baked goods. All stores remain open.

The financial watchdog is funding $2.5m towards a consumer-focused superannuation centre paid by big bank fines. The Superannuation Consumers’ Centre has been announced (paywall) after the Australian Securities & Investments Commission won $1.25m from Commonwealth Bank and ANZ over 'pushing' inferior super products on customers. Chair Rod Stowe said: “It is fitting that this funding has become available through regulatory action against major banks that have sold poor-value superannuation products to people who did not benefit from them.”

Heinz faces a $10m fine over a toddler product that’s two thirds sugar. The Little Kids Fruit and Veg Shredz product was labelled as being 99% fruits and vegetables but used a dehydration process that meant it was also mostly sugar. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission described the labelling as "wilful blindness" and "recklessness" and recommended the $10m fine, saying it should be a warning to the wider industry. The case continues.

Challenger bank Judo Capital has raised $140m from investors to focus on small business lending. The new bank has operated for three months and co-founder Joseph Healy told Fairfax small businesses wanted an alternative to the big four banks: "The royal commission has helped enormously but the dissatisfaction with big banks amongst small business has been evident for a long time". Investors included Myer Family Investments, the Ontario Pension Trust, Abu Dhabi Capital Group and Credit Suisse Asset Management.

Restaurants continue to charge Sunday surcharges despite the fact weekend penalty rates have fallen. A July Fair Work Commission ruling changed rules to reduce weekend and public holiday pay rates. Yet an ABC report showed cafes and pizza joints had so far kept charging a 10% Sunday surcharge to customers. Over two years, casual takeaway workers’ Sunday pay has changed from 175% of a weekday wage to 160% while permanent fast food staff Sunday pay dropped from 150% to 135%.

Idea of the Day: It’s easy to be swept up by the narrative that high-flying tech firms will deliver world-changing innovations at a breakneck pace. But historian Edward Tenner reminds us that genuine innovations — the kind that save lives and create stable jobs — take considerable time, effort and perseverance.

“It is important to remember that the triumphs of physics, chemistry and engineering ... resulted from years of struggle. Most took decades to become consumer staples. The best things in life are not virtually free and usually can’t move fast.”

— Cayla Dengate