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Good morning!
Today is Equal Pay Day – the 48th day after the end of the last financial year. It symbolises the extra days Australian women need to work, on average, to earn the same amount as Australian men.
New data released last week shows the gender pay gap is now 11.3% – that’s the difference between the average weekly earnings of full-time working men and women in the country.
One silver lining: it’s the lowest gender pay gap ever recorded in Australia.
I’ve got 10 seconds
The quote: “I grew up watching television at the feet of my parents – they wouldn’t let me on the couch. When you’re watching television in this country, you never think you’re going to be on it.”
Last night’s Gold Logie winner Sam Pang in his acceptance speech.
The stat: 5,000. The number of little penguins that will be vaccinated against H5 bird flu at Phillip Island and St Kilda, Melbourne, from this evening, according to the Victorian Government. Over the weekend Victorian authorities announced the first confirmed death of a little penguin from the disease. If you want to know more about the escalating bird flu crisis, listen to our deep dive from a couple of weeks ago here.
The big question:
Are you interested in this year's Logie Awards?
Friday’s results: 50% of you know how to make new friends, 35% don’t, and the rest aren’t sure. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [2,051 votes].
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
The NSW Government has announced it will become the first state to participate in a proposed national mass firearm buyback, agreeing to compensate people for surrendering guns no longer allowed under tighter restrictions. Tough national gun control laws were proposed after the antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach last December, during which a father-and-son duo killed 15 people in a shooting spree. The NSW buyback scheme will start in November, with compensation fixed by gun type, beginning at $450 for air rifles. Other states have rejected the buyback scheme, including Queensland and Victoria, whilst other states are still in negotiations with the Federal Government over funding, including Tasmania. Nationals Leader Matt Canavan called the reforms a "knee-jerk and unnecessary piece of legislation that was never properly consulted on".
Former Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced she will not stand at the next state election. After nearly three decades in politics, Allan confirmed on Friday that she would not contest her seat of Bendigo East this November. Her resignation had been widely expected since she stepped down as premier in July, after MPs told her she’d lost the support of the Labor caucus, elevating her deputy Ben Carroll. Allan said much had changed, both personally and politically, since she became the youngest female MP elected to Victorian Parliament at just 25 in 1999.
Together with AAP.
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I’ve got 1 minute
Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has promised red bins will be collected every week if the Liberal-National Coalition wins the next state election (due in November).
Dozens of Victorian councils have shifted to fortnightly red bin collection in recent years to cut costs and push households to use their recycling and organics bins more.
Wilson has made the promise in a series of social media posts over the past week.
Background
In most of Victoria, household waste is separated into four bins: food and garden organics, rubbish, plastic, metal & paper recycling, and glass recycling.
At least 30 councils have switched red bin collection from weekly to fortnightly, arguing it’s cheaper and encourages people to sort their rubbish properly, diverting waste from landfill.
Proposal
The Coalition argues fortnightly collections are inconvenient for “larger families, households with young children, apartment residents, and people managing nappies and incontinence products”.
Wilson has promised that, under a Coalition Government, every Victorian household would get weekly red bin collection.
The Victorian Government has questioned how the Coalition would fund the promised expansion of bin collection services.
Environment Minister Jaclyn Symes told TDA the Government would “continue to listen to councils and work with them on practical changes to improve bin and recycling services for their communities.”
What’s next?
Victoria heads to a state election in November 2026.
The Liberal-National Coalition would first need to win Government at that election, then bring a bill to Parliament to legislate their proposed changes to the current bin collection system.
Reporting by Elliot Lawry.
Quick hits
🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, editor-in-chief Billi explains what happened at the Pauline Hanson student protest. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.
🎾 The AFL and NRL seasons are nearly over. Sign up to TDA Sport here for a full run-down in your inbox at 4.30pm.
Good Finds
👓 Australia has reached a significant milestone, eliminating trachoma, once a leading cause of blindness in First Nations communities. In 2026, Specsavers will continue supporting The Fred Hollows Foundation, with a goal of raising $500,000 for its sight-saving work. Shop the range here.
✈️ Planning a group holiday is unpaid work. And with more than 7 in 10 Aussie Planners believing they deserve $70+ an hour, that's over $1,415 in labour before the holiday even starts. Klook's paying it forward: nominate the planner who's owed a break for a free trip to Switzerland. Entries close 31 August.
Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.
I’ve got 2 minutes
A Fair Work Commission (FWC) order giving delivery drivers a minimum hourly wage and a right to unpaid “time away” comes into effect today.
Previously, drivers were paid per delivery, rather than per hour.
The FWC’s order is the result of negotiations between the Transport Workers Union (TWU), Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Amazon also made submissions to the FWC.
Background
In August 2024, a new federal law took effect, allowing the FWC to set “minimum standards” for gig workers, including leave and pay.
It covers gig workers hired as “independent contractors” by companies like Amazon, Uber, and DoorDash.
Under the legislation, gig workers are considered “employee-like” workers of these companies.
The month the law came into effect, the TWU submitted an application to the FWC, asking it to create a minimum standards order (MSO) for workers who deliver food, beverages, and other goods.
The union negotiated an agreement with Uber Eats and DoorDash to set a minimum rate of pay for workers and provide accident insurance, which all three proposed to the FWC.
Following consultation with other businesses and industry groups, the FWC made an order covering the minimum wage and new standards.
Changes
Delivery drivers will now earn a minimum of $31.30 per hour that they are working on a job.
If they don’t earn that amount from deliveries alone, the company they work for must pay the difference, calculated over a set period of time.
Example: Joe works 60 hours over two weeks for Uber Eats, earning $1,500.
At a minimum hourly rate of $31.30, he would have earned $1,878.
Uber Eats pays him $378 to make up the difference.
Both companies and drivers now need to take out insurance – drivers for their vehicles, and companies to cover any accidents on the job.
A company must also now notify its workers if it plans to shut down.
In 2022, Deliveroo announced it would exit the Australian market without telling its drivers first.
Reporting by Lucy Tassell.
A message from Finder
A cash reward for a decision you were going to make anyway.
You were probably going to compare providers at some point. Do it through Finder and that decision can come with free digital Visa gift cards. Eligible categories with rewards this month include mobile, broadband, home loans, personal loans and share trading platforms. Finder has already paid out $2 million in rewards to its members - it's your turn now!
Give me some good news
Credit: Gregg Maxwell, Maxwell Media and Cape York Land Council via ABC
An area of land twice the size of Singapore has been returned to Traditional Owners.
The Federal Court ruling formally recognises 170,000 hectares of native title land in far north Queensland’s Cape York. The decision is considered a watershed victory for the region’s First Nations people, and comes after a decades-long legal campaign. Chief Justice Debra Mortimer apologised for the time it took to reach the determination and thanked Traditional Owners for their patience. “It has been slow, and it has been complicated… but what is happening today is that your property rights under your traditional law are being recognised, and they are rights against the whole world,” she said. Western Yalanji elders say the ruling guarantees their children and grandkids will always have a place on Country.
Reporting by Emma Gillespie.
TDA titbit
Singer Tate McRae is back in the headlines for a TikTok of her post-show routine where she used Neutrogena products. But not really.
If you watch the video, it doesn’t seem like the products actually touch her face. McRae also seemed to leave the lid on a gel she was applying to her face. TDA can confirm she definitely put what appeared to be Neutrogena eye patches on her face.
She might be Canada down, but I guess we don’t know if she’s Neutrogena down.
Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.
TDA asks
