It's giving shackled

Good morning AusCorp. It’s been one year since the Right to Disconnect law came into effect so we thought we’d check in and see if it’s still a thing.

ANZ Bank also gave us plenty to write about this month and if you missed our 2025 Grad Salary Survey results we have a snapshot down below with a link to the full thing.

We’ve also partnered with the economist team at AMP to bring you a digest of this month’s CPI data and housing.

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💡 Brain’s Trust

1. The good, the meh and the unpaid

We published our 2025 Grad Salary Survey data last week - you can view the full results on our website here. The high level: median base came in at $87,000, with the average grad base sitting slightly higher at $92,144. Across the board, job satisfaction sits at 7/10, salary satisfaction at 6/10, yet 71.6% would still recommend their employer.

You would normally expect a skew towards your handful of investment banks, but this year there was an upset in the upper leagues with some tech companies creeping up the ranks. At the top end, Google clocked in at a rough $197,309 base, while a floor of $45k was served up by Accenture Group. Big 4 banking roles had a median graduate base at $76,375 vs $88,143 for Big 4 consulting.

Gender-wise, the median base came in at $81,432 (male) vs $81,656 (female). Perks aren’t moving the needle much either with 6.2% of submissions reporting a sign-on bonus; 7.6% with in-house equity. The majority also ticked yes to “performance bonus eligible” but that fluctuates between a measly 0 or 5% to 50% and above.

Overtime is where things soured, although expectations were still in-line with previous years. 27% say their salary “includes reasonable overtime,” with 24.2% getting no OT compensation and only 1.4% reported paid OT at a standard rate (1.0% at time-and-a-half). As with any other year, it looks like grads are still balancing the need for exposure and opportunities.

2. ANZ Saga

Just a reminder to check in on any of your friends that work at ANZ Bank. Last week, staff in the retail division learned they were being made redundant after an automated “please return your laptop” email hit inboxes before managers were supposed to break the news. Cue an all-hands apology and ANZ was then forced to bring in dedicated psychologists for damage control while the new CEO, Nuno Matos, doubled down on a culture reset and promised more “clarity” and “pace”.

ANZ also joined the 2025 RTO train, with the bank also making headlines for their return-to-office policies. Armed with dashboards showing attendance since October 2024, ANZ managers now have marching orders to enforce a 50% in‑office minimum. Fall below 40% and “variable pay” can be cut by up to half depending on seniority. We got our hands on some brutal internal documents (above) with the below bands applied retrospectively for the period of October 2024 to July 2025.

• 0-20% office attendance earns you a “Did Not Consistently Demonstrate How” rating and ineligibility for fixed or variable increases;

• 21-40% copped a 50% variable pay cut for Groups 1-3 (25% for Groups 4-6);

• 41-49% goes to manager discretion.

Leaders must now lodge justification forms for any exceptions and their own bonuses can be dinged if they don’t police the policy.

ANZ have since confirmed yesterday that they’re also making 200 positions redundant with the bank discussing cuts of between 30% and 40% of the staff in the retail and technology divisions. According to ANZ, the bank is moving to simplify org layers, reduce duplication and push more work to India. Design, tech and migration teams are already bracing for “less fat, more sprinting.”

The bank is also currently juggling a $500m capital penalty from APRA while juggling a hiring freeze with three core banking stacks (Suncorp, ANZ Plus, Classic). Even so, the share price is up ~17% over 12 months, which tells you markets love a tidy P&L even if the business is facing a PR nightmare.

3. Right to not Promote You

One year on from when the “Right to Disconnect” law went live, we asked you whether anything’s actually changed. Not really was the short answer. A clear majority said work still pings after hours with the same expectation to reply as before, with 55.4% reporting no change at all. A decent chunk reported that companies or management believed that the law didn’t apply to their firm in any useful form or they’d forgotten this law had even existed.

For many, exercising this right to disconnect means that you risk career splash-back, fewer projects, slower promotions or not being a team player. Those in Law, Consulting, Finance and Tech often said their leaders believed that their roles fell into some unknown exemption or that salaried roles meant that employees were permanently “available.” If hitting your KPIs meant quietly being online at 10pm, ‘disconnecting’ isn’t really a choice.

There were green shoots, but small ones. About 6.1% reported a positive shift. Bosses text instead of call, expectations to respond definitely softened, or boundaries stick if you were brave enough to cite the law. We only received 2 responses that were in support of the law - their workplace worked around a 5PM finish and unsurprisingly, both worked in government.

So where to from here? If government policy says “disconnect” but your promotion incentives quietly expect you to be always on, your workplace policy wins every time.

📊 AMP’s Finest

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to live a day in the life of AMP’s Chief Economist, Shane Oliver, you can now do so HERE. In August, we met with the AMP’s economist team and Diana Mousina (AMP’s Deputy Chief Economist), was kind enough to share with us some pointers for the month.

Canberra has officially turned on the taps for first‑home buyers with the Home Guarantee scheme now offering unlimited places, no means test, higher price caps and a pull forward to October 2025. And while that sounds nice and all, in practice, demand typically gets a boosts well before supply catches up, so prices will likely get a nudge first - just like 2009 after the Rudd boost. The government reckons 70,000 people will use it (about 60% of annual first‑home buyers), but we’re already missing housing construction targets by at least 60k a year and it takes about 60% longer to build a home than a decade ago. Great if you’re looking at selling; less so, if you’re competing at Saturday auctions.

Inflation also threw a head fake in July with CPI rising 2.8% y/y versus 2.3% expected, with the jump driven by electricity timing, school‑holiday travel and a few retail quirks (garments up 1.2% y/y; accessories 6.9%). What does this CPI data mean to you? The team at AMP reckons the RBA sits tight in September, with cuts pencilled for November, February and May - taking rates to roughly 2.85% by the end of the cycle.

If that was helpful at all, you can listen to the AMP Econosights podcast here, featuring Shane Oliver, Diana Mousina and My Bui. 

 🗞️ Company Watch

1. CBA has expanded its LMI waiver policy to include more professional groups with reduced income requirements. LINK

2. Koala Airlines plans to launch services by end-2026 to challenge the Qantas-Virgin duopoly without currently owning aircraft. LINK

3. Spotify will raise prices as it invests in new features and targets 1 billion users, with increases starting in September for premium subscriptions in some markets. LINK

4. ANZ Bank apologised after mistakenly informing employees about returning laptops before redundancy notifications. LINK

5. Qantas is devaluing Frequent Flyer points by 20%, and adding 400,000 reward seats. LINK

 🗞️ On Your Minds

🇦🇺 TOP AUSTRALIAN NEWS RECAP

1. Victora's work-from-home legislation faces legal challenges under federal industrial relations laws. LINK

2. The latest wastewater report has revealed Australians consumed more than 20 tonnes of illicit drugs worth billions of dollars over 1 year, with cocaine use having risen 69% from the previous year. LINK

3. Australian first-home buyers have become more indebted than ever, with the average loan size increasing by $18,000 over the last 3 months to $678,011 following interest rate cuts in February and May. LINK

4. Nearly 600,000 high-income Australians have opted to pay the Medicare surcharge instead of private health insurance as the incentive system fails to convince wealthy citizens. LINK

5. Australian employers are using digital monitoring to assess staff productivity rather than hours worked. LINK

6. 24 banks refuse RBA rate cuts. LINK

🌏 THE ODD PICKS

1. Multiple scientific studies have suggested chocolate milk as the go-to post-workout beverage. LINK

2. A Spanish couple took that dream a little too literally this week and instead of booking a babysitter, they reportedly left their 10-year-old son at Barcelona Airport after discovering his passport had expired. LINK

3. A tech firm in China has reportedly planned to debut the world’s first pregnancy humanoid robot using an artificial womb to avoid gestation problems during childbirth, targeting a price of around $20,000 AUD. LINK

4. The no. 1 fruit with the most protein, according to a dietitian. LINK

5. 6 unexpected signs you're not drinking enough water, according to health experts. LINK

🏉 Sports Catalogue

Sydney took centre stage this week as Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan hit the streets for the Sydney Marathon. With thousands lining the course, Hassan (2:18) and Hailemaryam Kiroswon (2:06) stormed home to set the fastest marathon times ever run on Aussie soil. With Sydney becoming one of the Majors, the crowds were out in force to see elites and everyday runners complete the 42.2km journey. You get the feeling this event is only just getting started!

On the footy front, the AFL top 8 is locked - Adelaide finished minor premiers, but the bookies still like Geelong. In the NRL, the Raiders wrapped up top spot with a week to spare, though Melbourne Storm head into finals as favourites. All eyes are now on September as knockout footy takes over the calendar.

And on the global stage, Oscar Piastri took out the Dutch GP and now leads the F1 standings by 34 points. With nine races to go, he’s chasing history as the first Aussie champ since Alan Jones in 1980. If he holds his nerve, this could be the season that cements him as Australia’s next sporting superstar.

TOGETHER WITH

Doga Sydney - Corporate Cuddles & Puppy Yoga

With corporate wellness month well underway and R U OK Day just next week, we just did a collab with Doga Sydney and Mirvac to bring puppy cuddles to South Eveleigh Technology Park. If you work at CBA or Seven Network and were in the office yesterday, you would’ve been lucky enough to fight over the company of 20 puppies!

Forget the pub, escape rooms and bowling - we’ve got you covered with Corporate Cuddles and Puppy Yoga 🐶

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