Tag Archives: Australia

Will a “right to disconnect” reach the U.S.?

Companies, Lifestyle, Remote Work, , ,

Australia recently introduced a “right to disconnect” law, allowing workers to ignore after-hours communications from employers without fear of punishment. The law, which aims to restore work-life balance, lets employees choose whether to respond to calls or messages outside working hours unless their refusal is deemed unreasonable. This measure addresses the growing issue of unpaid overtime, with a 2023 survey finding Australians worked an average of 281 unpaid overtime hours annually.

The move is part of a global trend, with more than 20 countries, mainly in Europe and Latin America, implementing similar protections. Proponents argue that this law not only benefits employees but also helps businesses by reducing stress and burnout, leading to healthier, more productive workforces.

In the U.S., however, federal protections do not yet exist. American workers continue to face blurred boundaries between work and personal time, a challenge that has only grown with the rise of remote work since the pandemic. While some states are exploring legislation to address these issues, efforts like a bill proposed in California were put on hold earlier this year after pushback from business groups. As the U.S. grapples with increasing demands for a better work-life balance, concepts like a four-day workweek or the “right to disconnect” could become a key focus of future labor discussions.

Google Investing Big in Australia

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In what will be Google‘s largest investment in Australia to date, the tech giant said it will build a research hub, enlarge cloud computing, and fund joint projects with local organizations to the tune of $740 million.


The investment is called “The Digital Future Initiative” and will likely create about 6,000 jobs directly and support 28,000 more secondary jobs.


“Australia can help lead the world’s next wave of innovation, harnessing technology to improve lives, create jobs, and make progress,” said Sundar Pichai, a Google executive who spoke at the launch in Sydney.


Scott Morrison, prime minister of Australia, also spoke at the launch, saying: “The decision by Google has major benefits for Australian businesses as we engage with the economic recovery before us.”


Other Australian groups will take part in the initiative, including the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia’s government science agency.


A representative of DivisionX Global, a hi-tech investment company, Joshua Kennedy-White said Google’s initiative is a “huge win” for the Australian tech sector.


“It takes money to move an idea into innovation and the first money is the hardest to come by. If Google cut $250k cheques to promising start-ups, they could fund 4,000 new tech companies in Australia,” Kennedy-White said.

U.S. Warns China About Australia Clash

China, Trade, ,

The Biden administration warned China Tuesday that the United States would not “leave Australia alone on the field” in its ongoing economic clash with Beijing.

China and Australia have been at odds since 2017, first when parliament outlawed foreign political donations in order to stem Chinese influence in Canberra, and later when Australia locked Chinese tech giant Huawei out of its 5G network.

Beijing responded by imposing a series of punishing tariffs and limits on a range of imports from Australia including coal, wine, barley, live seafood, beef and timber.

China is Australia’s largest trading partner by far, with bilateral trade growing from $132 billion in 2014-15 to $231 billion for 2019-20. Australia is also one of the few countries to maintain a trade surplus with China, with Canberra exporting $150 billion to China against $81 billion in imports.

To date, the United States has not intervened in the standoff. The issue did not play a role in former President Donald Trump’s policy vis-à-vis China.

But speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald ahead of a meeting between American and Chinese officials, who are scheduled to convene in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18, Kurt Campbell, President Biden’s point man for the Indo-Pacific region said the new administration would link its China policy with Beijing’s treatment of U.S. allies.

“We have made clear that the U.S. is not prepared to improve relations in a bilateral and separate context at the same time that a close and dear ally is being subjected to a form of economic coercion,” Campbell told the newspaper on March 16.

Last year, Britain’s The Guardian reported that sanctions have cost the Australian economy $19 billion, but predicted that the number could grow to $28 billion if travel by Chinese nationals to Australia does not rebound after Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

Millenial Values Changing Investment Patterns

Markets, Millenials, Real Estate, , ,

Growing up in Sydney, Australia, Shenal Harakh learned that real estate was the key to a prosperous financial future. For an immigrant family from India, it wasn’t a bad model: Real estate values Down Under have exploded in recent decades, with the median price for a single-family home jumping from A$111,524 in 1995 to A$871,749 at the end of 2020.

For the 28-year-old Harakh, however, real estate investing left her itching for “action.” Three years ago, the then-anthropology student at Australian National University decided to diversify into the stock market. The move was a prodigious one: In 2020 she turned a 174 percent return in addition to 27 percent and 14 percent returns (respectively) on the Bell Direct and Stake platforms, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Harakh’s investment strategy appears to be a guidebook on Investing for Millenials. Her LinkedIn page says her investments focus on “cultivat(ing) meaningful connections and content where you can see your universe of interests as well as those of others, but still have the ability to separate what’s private, public, or visible to specific contacts and know there’s more to your network than meets the eye.

“As we spend more time online and creating virtual connections, it’s important for us to be able to express the complexity and interconnected nature of our lives,” she writes.

At the same time, she is cautious to warn that market activists must be careful, and that it isn’t for everyone. “Trading is addictive,” she told the AFN. “And the last thing you want to do is lose everything because of this addiction.”

Brisbane Ocupa el Lugar más Caro para los Viajeros de Negocios

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Brisbane, Australia
Brisbane, Australia

De acuerdo con la investigación conducida por Concur, un proveedor de soluciones de gestión de gastos y de viajes, Brisbane, Australia es la ciudad del mundo más cara para viajeros de negocios.

La publicación reciente de “Expense IQ Report,” que examina los hábitos de los viajantes de negocios, recolecta información de $50 billones de dólares en gastos reportados por compañías estadounidenses.

El reporte de Concur observó varios gastos principales realizados por viajeros de negocios: cenas, entrenamiento, transporte terrestre, y alojamiento.

Cuando es evaluada en su conjunto, Brisbane, una ciudad de la costa este de Australia, apreció en el principio de la lista, con un costo promedio de gastos de  $547.53. Londres ocupó el puesto número 5 como la ciudad más cara, mientras que Dubái de Emiratos Árabes, estaba en la decima posición con un costo de  $455.93.

Si ciudades nacionales hubieran sido incluidas en la evaluación, entonces Nueva York hubiera ocupado el noveno lugar con un promedio de gastos de $476.

English Translation