☕️ Last ISIS-linked woman to return

At midday today, the Socceroos will play their final group game against Paraguay. The Aussie team is looking for a win or a draw in order to secure our passage to the next stage of the World Cup.

I hope everyone is as excited as our co-founder, Sam, in our TDA team chat earlier this week...

Let’s go!

The quote: “In time Leah will want to share more of her story, she remembers the whole event in detail, but for now is focussed on resting and healing as her Doctors support her in pain management, tests, regaining some movement and preparing her for further surgeries [today].”
Coogee shark attack victim Leah Stewart’s brother Joshua Stewart in an update on the family’s GoFundMe page.

The stat: 4.4%. The unemployment rate in May, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 41% of you said you buy your groceries at Woolies, 31% at Aldi, 24% at Coles and 4% of you buy them from IGA. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [3,047 votes].

Together with AAP.

Up to $40 cashback across four merchants - but only until June 30th.

CommBank’s Everyday account is giving back $10 when you spend $10 at Amazon, Chemist Warehouse, Uber Eats and Uber Rides – that’s up to a total of $40 cashback.

^{Disclaimer: Open your first CommBank Everyday account by 30 June 2026. Eligibility criteria & offer T&C's apply. $10 min spend for $10 cashback per merchant for up to $40 cashback in total. Consider if appropriate for you. TMD on the CBA website. Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.}

Australian activewear brand Stax has entered receivership, with consultants appointed to take control of the business while they assess its future.

The company, founded in 2015, grew into a $52 million business worn by celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Lizzo, and Hailey Bieber, and employs more than 50 staff.

Here’s what you need to know.

On Wednesday, consulting firm FTI announced Stax had entered receivership.

Receivership is when an independent party is appointed to take control of a company and recover money owed to creditors after it runs into financial trouble. FTI will continue operating the business while it assesses its future.

Receiver Joseph Hansell said: “The business is trading as usual while the receivers undertake an urgent assessment of the company’s operations.”

Stax was founded in 2015 by Don Robertson, who launched the brand from his family’s spare bedroom in Perth while carrying $80,000 in personal debt. His wife, Matilda, joined the business a year later.

The pair built Stax into one of Australia’s biggest activewear brands, worn by celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Lizzo, and Megan Fox. They appeared on The Australian Financial Review’s Young Rich List in 2022 and were estimated to be worth $70 million last year.

At its peak, Stax operated 12 stores before shifting its focus online.

Want more finance explainers? TDA has a weekly newsletter dedicated to just that. No bias. No jargon. No assumed knowledge.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, multimedia journalist Elliot interviews MPs Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall about their new political party. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.

🌞 Craving some feel good news? You can sign up to TDA Good News here to make sure the explainer is in your inbox every Sunday morning.

🛒 There's a difference between cheap and good value – Harris Farm, family-owned since 1971, has built their whole model around the latter. Bumper crop? Prices drop. Bumpy veg? They buy it anyway and pass the savings on. Read about how they do it here.

^{Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.}

🛏️ One purchase, two bedroom makeovers. Pillow Talk’s reversible quilt cover sets give you two distinct looks in one, making it easy to switch up your space with the seasons, follow a trend or simply refresh your room whenever the mood strikes – explore the range online or in-store.

^{Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.}

The Government has approved the return of the last remaining Australian woman with links to Islamic State (IS) left in Syria.

Australian citizen Hodan Abby had previously been barred from returning under a temporary exclusion order issued by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, but has now been granted a return permit.

She is expected to return to Australia with her child and will be subject to strict monitoring when she arrives.

Australia listed ISIS (also known as IS or Daesh) a terrorist organisation in 2005.

The group occupied one-third of Syria from 2014 to 2017, forming a ‘Caliphate’ governed under a fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law.

The Australian National Imams Council says ISIS “does not represent Islam or the Muslim world in any way”.

ISIS lost all of its territory by 2019, and many of its fighters and their families were placed in detention camps across Syria, Libya, and Iraq. This included dozens of Australian citizens.

In 2022, the Federal Government helped four Australian women and their 13 children return from a Syrian camp.

The following year, Save the Children Australia unsuccessfully took the Government to court in a bid to force the repatriation of the remaining women and children. The court ruled Australia had no legal obligation to assist because it did not control the circumstances of their detention.

In February this year, 11 women and 23 children attempted to leave Al Roj camp without government assistance but were turned back by Syrian authorities. Then, in early May, a first group of four women and nine children returned to Australia without government assistance, arriving in Melbourne and Sydney.

Two women were arrested in Melbourne and charged with crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Syria, while another was arrested in Sydney and charged with entering a declared conflict zone and joining ISIS.

Later that month, a second group of six women and their children arrived in Sydney and Melbourne. No arrests were made, although investigations remain ongoing.

The last remaining Australian woman with links to Islamic State (IS) who was left in Syria will now be allowed to return home after the Government granted her a permit to re-enter the country.

The permit was granted on Wednesday night after Burke previously placed the Australian citizen under a temporary exclusion order (TEO), which barred her return after authorities assessed she posed a significant national security risk.

She is expected to return to Australia with her child. When she returns, she will be subject to strict monitoring, with authorities overseeing where she lives, works, studies and travels. She must also give 24 hours’ notice before using any telecommunications device or accessing social media.

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said the agency was involved in approving the woman’s return and was satisfied the necessary security arrangements were in place.

Temporary Exclusion Orders (TEOs) allow the Government to prevent citizens from returning to Australia for up to two years under counterterrorism laws, unless they apply for a return permit.

The orders are designed to delay the return of someone assessed as a terrorism risk, giving authorities time to put security measures in place to reduce any threat to the community.

If a person applies for a return permit, the maximum period they can be excluded from Australia is 12 months.

“We received the final advice yesterday that post-entry conditions, that’s all the surveillance conditions - there’s a whole series of conditions we can put in place there - but we received the final advice yesterday that we can no longer have an exclusion condition, any longer for her,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on ABC Radio on Thursday morning.

Opposition defence spokesperson Senator James Paterson accused the government of mishandling the case, saying it had failed to protect the Australian community.

Paterson told Sky News that Burke had given “a rather tortured explanation... about why this wasn’t his fault.”

“The bottom line is the Albanese Labor Government has issued a return permit to a member of ISIS, an affiliate of ISIS to return to our country, who was previously blocked from returning to our country.”

Reporting by Adella Beaini.

You already know where the week went. Now get a little of it back - but only until 30 June.

An Uber here. A Chemist Warehouse run there. That Amazon order that felt very necessary in the moment. It adds up.

You could get some of it back when opening a CommBank Everyday account for the first time. Here's how it works: spend $10 at Amazon, Chemist Warehouse, Uber Eats and Uber Rides and you'll get $10 cashback at each merchant. That's up to $40 cashback, just for your everyday spend.

^{Disclaimer: Open your first CommBank Everyday account by 30 June 2026. Eligibility criteria & offer T&C's apply. $10 min spend for $10 cashback per merchant for up to $40 cashback in total. Consider if appropriate for you. TMD on the CBA website.}

The IOC said the grants would first be open to nearly 2,900 athletes who competed at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games. They'll include Australian Winter Olympics stars like Cooper Woods, Josie Baff and Jakara Anthony, who struck gold in Milan-Cortina, as well as teammates who weren't as successful. Around 11,000 athletes due to compete in 2028 at Los Angeles can also apply for grants, if they meet integrity criteria such as not testing positive for doping. Olympian Anna Meares, who will lead Australia’s contingent at the LA Games, said the announcement “recognises Olympians are the heart of the Olympic Games and at the forefront of decisions,” and “will impact thousands going forward and positively change lives beyond the podium.”

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

Scammers online have been advertising fake auditions to become the NRL Broncos’ team mascot. They have also claimed to be hosting paid player meet and greet opportunities.

In a statement, the Broncos wrote: “The Club will never request payment for auditions or unsolicited opportunities shared via social media or private message.”

Come on scammers, don’t horse around with people’s dreams!

Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.