Westpac says the next hike will be soon now

Westpac says its expects the next RBA rate hike to be brought forward to September, as hawkish rhetoric outweighs the tactical risks

Today's changes to interest rates

Here are the changes the main banks have made to retail interest rates on Friday, September 18, 2026

Breakfast briefing: Financial market relief

Benchmark yields ease on Fed's inflation fighting commitment; US data soft; Canada PPI high; Singapore exports shine; eyes on Bank of Japan; freight rates hold high; UST 10yr at 4.94%; gold rises, oil holds; AU$1 = 71.1 USc

The population grows 1.4% in the year to March 2026

The population grows fastest in WA, grows the most in Victoria

Company failures push higher

A surge in construction company collapses has pushed month insolvencies to a new high

Is the Trump Treasury panicking?

Kenneth Rogoff warns that fiddling with bond maturities won't save the US from the painful fiscal choices ahead

AI could make Governments slower

Sami Mahroum warns that AI technology could flood public agnecies with more work than human decision-makers can realistically oversee

After the AI bubble bursts

Barry Eichengreen warns that opacity prevails in the private debt markets that are funding the AI boom. Investors need to watch out because regulators are not making information easy to obtain

The risks of mixing personal and business finances

Lynda Moore says uncomplicated, clear financial habits can simplify and clarify the way your small business is performing, and prevent some very messy surprises

APRA takes action to address material liquidity breaches by ING Australia

ING Australia now has to hold additional capital and liquidity in response to material breaches of the bank’s minimum liquidity requirements

July mortgage stress up to an 18-year high

Almost one third of home loan borrowers are now in mortgage stress says Roy Morgan, almost back to GFC levels in 2008

Housing downturn spreads as 93% of capital city suburbs record winter value falls

Cotality's national Home Value Index fell 0.9% in August, marking a fifth consecutive month of decline. Sydney leads the downturn, outpacing its earlier 2022-23 correction due to falling demand and higher stock levels

How much does your insurer really know about you?

Insurers have a lot of data about us. Fei Huang looks at where they get it from, and how they use it

The CPI rose 3.5% in the year to July

Inflation falls from June as expected but not by as much as expected. Housing is up 5.0%, food is up 3.2%

Why most homeowners don’t need to lose sleep over negative equity

Curtin professor Steven Rowley says homeowners need not worry about recent house price falls if you purchased to live in a house - demographics and structural market imbalances will see you right

New home loans fall in the June quarter

Finally there is some light in the battle to make housing affordable again. The new Budget rules have quelled residential investor animal spirits that were chasing capital gains and tax advantages

Consumers left in the dark about rising car insurance premiums, ASIC warns

ASIC claims car insurance premiums are 'surging' and insurers are opaque about the reasons when communicating with customers. They are baffled why consumers aren't switching even though 'negotiating works'