Superannuation is expected to play a greater role in funding retirements, according to the government's latest intergenerational report released on Thursday.
The report notes that this will also mean a fall in spending on age and service pensions as a share of gross domestic product by 2062.
Consumer advocate Super Consumers Australia has updated its home-owner retirement savings targets to reflect changes in the cost of living and the Age Pension.
Mano Mohankumar is an Investment Research Manager at data and analytics company Chant West.
He told SBS that superannuation holders must think long-term about their saving funds.
"It's important for super fund members to always keep in mind that super is a long-term investment. And the vast majority of Australians can afford to remain patient. Even in the case of older members, a lot of them are not going to take out their super as a lump sum at retirement. So the investment horizon is often longer than they may think."
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has dismissed suggestions Qantas should pay back money it received from the government after the airline posted record profits.
Qantas on Thursday reported an underlying profit of $2.47 billion for the past financial year, compared with an almost $2 billion loss the year before.
But the airline is under pressure in the wake of the results to pay back money it received from the federal government at the height of the Covid-19 crisis.
It received $2.7 billion from taxpayers during the pandemic, including $900 million from the JobKeeper program.
But Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the profits from Qantas showed the tourism industry was making a strong recovery post-COVID.
Meanwhile, the airline's chief executive Alan Joyce said the JobKeeper funds from the government went to its employees.
Education Minister Jason Clare has defended the electoral commission's ballot paper for the voice referendum, after the federal opposition criticised it as confusing.
Under the current instructions, you can write 'yes' or 'no' or tick for yes, but if you write a cross for 'no' it won't be accepted.
He told Channel Seven the form mirrors that seen in the 1999 referendum on whether or not Australia should become a Republic.
"I mean part of the argument they're making is that it's going to cause a heap of confusion. When John Howard held a referendum into the Republic, same rules, worked fine. And I think there were less than 1 per cent of votes that were informal. So I think that pricks the bubble of this argument that it's going to cause some kind of confusion."
The Opposition insists if a tick can be counted for 'yes', then a cross should be counted for 'no'.
Deputy Opposition leader Sussan Ley told Channel Seven the government should write to the electoral commission and request clarity on the ballot paper.
"This is the modern era and we have a lot more Australians who don't speak English, and we want everyone to vote at this referendum. And quite simply, what would people think? A tick is yes and a cross is no. I actually would expect Jason and his team to be writing similarly to the AEC to actually ask for the rules to be fair."
Private consultants who leak confidential government tax information or cover up breaches by their colleagues will be slapped with million-dollar fines under new legislation.
The changes, which include penalties of up to $1.1 million for individuals and $5.5 million for corporations, were passed in the New South Wales parliament on Thursday ((24 Aug)) after a scandal over confidential federal tax briefings being leaked by a former PwC partner.
The multi-million-dollar penalties will apply to individuals, corporations or other organisations caught using or disclosing confidential government taxation information.
The state government said it routinely consulted with external representative industry bodies on tax policy and legislation on a confidential basis.
