Updated 7 May 2026: This article has been updated with the official RBA decision delivered on 5 May 2026. The original article was published as a preview on 20 April 2026 and projected a rate cut based on market pricing at that time. The actual outcome was a third consecutive rate hike. The Reserve Bank…
If you are outside Australia and your partner is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, the Subclass 309/100 is your route to living together permanently in Australia. You apply for both stages in one application, pay one fee, and the Department of Home Affairs grants the temporary visa first before automatically…
The subclass 191 visa — officially the Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa — is the final step to permanent residency for skilled workers who have spent at least three years living and working in regional Australia on a subclass 491 or subclass 494 provisional visa. It is one of Australia’s most straightforward PR pathways: no…
The subclass 494 visa — officially the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa — is Australia’s primary pathway for skilled workers to live and work in regional Australia under employer sponsorship. Introduced on 16 November 2019 to replace the RSMS subclass 187 Direct Entry stream, it provides a five-year provisional visa with a clear pathway…
A skills assessment in Australia is the formal evaluation that confirms your overseas qualifications and work experience meet Australian professional standards for your nominated occupation. It is one of the first and most important steps in the skilled migration process — and without a positive outcome, you cannot submit an Expression of Interest or lodge…
Sydney petrol prices by suburb in April 2026 reveal a 105-cent gap between the cheapest and most expensive station in the city — meaning where you fill up matters more right now than at any point in years. Unleaded petrol in Sydney currently ranges from 191.5 cents to 296.9 cents per litre, with a city-wide…
Australia’s March 2026 CPI data lands on 29 April — and it may be the single most consequential inflation reading in years. Annual CPI inflation was 3.7 per cent in the 12 months to February 2026, with the largest contributors being Housing (+7.2%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.1%) and Recreation and culture (+4.1%). That was…
Australia’s defence spending commitment announced on 16 April 2026 is the largest peacetime military expansion in the nation’s history — and somebody has to pay for it. Australia will raise defence spending to 3.0 per cent of GDP by 2033, spending an additional $53 billion over the next decade compared to its 2024 defence strategy,…
Australia’s unemployment rate held at 4.3% in March 2026 — and the headline looks reassuring. It isn’t. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 4.3 per cent in March, with 18,000 new jobs added and the number of unemployed people falling by 4,000, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That sounds solid. But layer…