Spotify to follow Netflix with new subscription price hike
Streaming giant hikes subscription costs, Tax Office chases money mules and was the economic roundtable more than a talkfest? Here are five things you may have missed this week.
Netflix, Spotify hike subscription costs
Streaming giant Netflix has lifted subscription costs.
Subscribers can expect to pay an extra two bucks each month, with the 'standard with ads' option now $9.99 each month, up from $7.99. The ad-free standard plan rose to $20.99 monthly, up from $18.99.
Subscribers are fuming.
As one Reddit user pointed out, the standard plan has jumped from $16.99 to $20.99 in a matter of months - an "annualised price rise of 7.9% vs inflation of 2.1%."
Spotify is about to follow.
Premium subscriptions are set to rise from $13.99 per month to $15.99 monthly, starting in September.
It comes as Westpac research shows Australians are wasting hundreds of dollars each year on subscriptions they don't use or have forgotten about.
Three in ten Australians admit they are losing up to $600 annually on duplicate services and platforms they no longer use.
Westpac Acting Chief Executive, Consumer, Carolyn McCann, says on average Australians are spending almost 20% more on subscriptions than they realise.
"When we compared total estimated spend against customer transaction data we could see customers are spending about $14 more each month than they think they are on subscriptions," says McCann.
Chances are, that figure is about to rise.
Reforms, regulation, risks and the economic roundtable
This week saw Treasurer Jim Chalmers convene an Economic Reform Roundtable aimed at improving productivity, enhancing economic resilience and strengthening budget sustainability.
All worthy issues. But what's really been achieved?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has noted more needs to be done to drive growth and productivity. But he admits it's more than a job for one roundtable - it's a "continuous effort".
The bottom line is that big change - if any, is unlikely to happen immediately. Still, it got everyone thinking about the potential for reforms especially around productivity. And that's a plus.
According to the Productivity Commission, over the past ten years productivity has increased by less than a quarter of its 60-year average.
"If we could boost growth from its current level to its historic average, adult Australian full-time workers would be at least $14,000 a year better off by 2035," says Productivity Commission chair, Danielle Wood.
Tax Office out to catch money mules
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has expanded its data-matching capabilities.
A new 'Australian Financial Crimes Exchange' (AFCX) data-matching program will be used to help identify bank accounts being used to commit fraud.
The AFCX is an independent organisation formed by major banks to help combat finance-related crimes.
The ATO will collect data from AFCX including bank account details and IP addresses used in activities already identified as fraudulent by AFCX members.
This will let the ATO stop fraudulent tax registrations and lodgements, and prevent fraudulent refunds from being issued.
It will also help identify 'money mules' - people who assist in money laundering by transferring illegally-obtained cash into and out of their personal bank account, making it harder to trace.
"We anticipate receiving more than half a million records of suspected money mule bank accounts and malicious IP addresses through this program each year," says ATO deputy commissioner, John Ford.
Downton Abbey - the auction
Fans of the Downton Abbey series will be eagerly awaiting the release of the third and (allegedly final) Downton Abbey movie - "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale" on September 11th, 2025.
But for diehard followers of the Crawley family, it's now possible to stock up on Downton memorabilia.
London auction house Bonhams is holding Downton Abbey: The Auction, an auction of props and costumes from the series.
Up for grabs is Lady Mary's wedding dress (season 3), which is expected to sell for up to $10,000.
At the upper end of the price scale, the Grantham family car, a 1925 Sunbeam 20/60hp Saloon could fetch as much as $73,000.
Will these items make a good investment?
The TV and movie memorabilia market is valued at around $US3.1 billion ($4.8 billion) globally - a figure expected to grow at 5.6% annually.
If a pair of Ruby Slippers worn by Judy Garland in 1939's The Wizard of Oz can sell for $US28 million ($43.5 million) as they did last December, maybe Lady Mary's wedding gown could be a money-maker.
If you're interested, head to Bonhams' website for details. Bidding closes on 16 September.
ASIC shuts down 130 scam websites every week
Aussies lost $945 million to investment scams in 2024, and that's seeing money watchdog ASIC ramp up its scam prevention tactics.
Over the last two years ASIC has used its takedown capability to knock out more than 14,000 investment scam and phishing websites.
The watchdog continues to remove an average of 130 malicious sites every week.
Now ASIC is expanding its takedown powers to include dodgy ads on social media. ASIC deputy chair, Sarah Court, says this will help safeguard Australian consumers.
Investment scams remain the leading type of scam impacting Australians in terms of losses.
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