🗞️ Shark watch

Good morning. NSW has rolled out a $34 million drone surveillance program across dozens of Sydney beaches, flying dawn to dusk in the wake of a string of shark attacks.

Coogee is covered for the first time, previously off-limits because it sits under the airport flight path, and operators have already logged more than 750 sightings and over 200 water clearances since July.

Experts call it the best tool available right now, with one caveat wind and small sharks can still slip past a drone, so swimming between the flags remains the actual advice.

All the headlines and more below...

CARD SURCHARGES BANNED FROM OCTOBER 1 AS RBA CAPS INTERCHANGE FEES TO OFFSET BUSINESS COSTS

Australian businesses will no longer be allowed to charge customers extra for paying by Visa, Mastercard or eftpos card from October 1, 2026, and American Express voluntarily agreed to remove its surcharging options. The Reserve Bank found surcharges no longer work as intended because card payments are now so widespread that consumers cannot easily avoid them, and only 16% of Australian businesses currently pass on surcharges - though small retailers and hospitality venues are more likely to do so than larger competitors.

Card payment costs for small business typically run between 0.85% and 2% of transaction value for debit and eftpos, and between 1% and 2% for credit transactions. To offset the hit, the RBA is simultaneously lowering the cap on interchange fees - the fees paid to banks when a card payment goes through - and requiring Visa, Mastercard and eftpos to publish their fees clearly so businesses can seek out better deals. Commonwealth Bank has already dropped its merchant service fee from 1.1% to 0.99% per transaction for flat-rate pricing merchants from October 1.

Businesses can still build card acceptance costs into their base prices, offer cash discounts, charge weekend or public holiday surcharges unrelated to payment methods, and enforce card minimums. Any business disguising a card surcharge as a service fee after October 1 faces penalties from the ACCC.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

• The federal government has ruled out a temporary ban on camera-equipped smart glasses as it expresses confidence in regulating emerging technologies despite rising privacy concerns over covert filming. LINK

• The NSW government has decided to resume pill testing at music festivals from October while rejecting wider community services and continuing the use of sniffer dogs and searches. LINK

• House prices in some of Sydney’s most expensive suburbs have fallen up to 16.5% this year as higher borrowing costs and investor tax changes hit the top quarter of the market. AFR

• Australian Industry Group has reported that construction is now the worst-hit sector in a structural surge in business insolvencies, which are about 75% above pre-pandemic levels. LINK

• The Australian economy is nearing the RBA’s 2% “speed limit” as annual growth is expected at 1.9%, raising concerns resilient private spending could keep inflation elevated. AFR

• Australia needs an extra 72,000 electricians, technicians and related tradespeople by 2030 as the AI boom intensifies an already severe labour shortfall. LINK

• Prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced a $600M package at the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau to combat transnational drug trafficking through the Pacific into Australia. LINK

MACQUARIE SWAPPED IN-PERSON CLASSES FOR AN AI CHATBOT IN TWO PSYCHOLOGY UNITS THAT COST $2,174 EACH

Macquarie University has swapped in-person classes for an AI chatbot, online quizzes and optional tutorials in two mandatory psychology units, both of which had face-to-face teaching in first semester. Its Virtual Peer bot asks students questions and walks them through scenario-based exercises.

The university says the AI activities are optional and supplement the core online readings, quizzes and videos, and that in-person classes return in 2027 in alternate semesters. Paid tutors still run optional Zoom sessions: six a week for 400 students in the introductory unit and 10 a week for 700 in the final-year one, about one class for every 70 students. Each subject costs $2,174 for a Commonwealth-supported student.

One student, who enrolled in the online option after a problem with their degree structure, said they felt short-changed. “I feel like I’m teaching this robot how to take jobs away from my teachers,” they said. Virtual Peer answered close to 80,000 student questions across 2025, and nearly as many in the first half of 2026 alone.

COMPANY NEWS

• SBS has secured the rights to broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2030 in a bid worth more than $30M as it seeks to remain Australia’s “spiritual home of football”. LINK

• Jetstar completed its first test flight to Western Sydney International from Melbourne, arriving 14 minutes early at 9.16am as crew tested ground handling and refuelling procedures. LINK

• UNSW has struck a deal with News Corp Australia to give students and staff free premium digital access to The Australian and The Daily Telegraph, plus internships and campus events. LINK

• AUSTRAC has launched an enforcement investigation into Western Union over alleged failures in managing high-risk payment channels and customer oversight as part of its anti-money laundering controls. CB

• CBA continued charging a customer 13 years of annual fees on an unactivated credit card, defending the charges as valid because the card remained linked to his account. LINK

• Pizza Hut is planning its biggest Australian store revamp by renovating more than 250 of its 300 outlets as owner Flynn Group seeks to counter newer rivals like Yo-Chi. AFR

• Anthropic has admitted that hacking incidents involving its Claude models reflected a failure of operational security as deliberately unsafeguarded tests and a misunderstanding with an external tester let them access the open internet. LINK

• KIISFM has seen its Sydney breakfast audience share slide to 6.9% as the loss of Kyle and Jackie O hurts parent ARN, which reported a 14% interim revenue fall to $127.9M. LINK

• Shein has been valued at $26.2B after its long-awaited Hong Kong stock market debut as it faces fierce competition, trade tensions and ethical concerns over its supply chain. LINK

• CSL has signed agreements with the US government to cut US medicine prices and avoid 100% tariffs by offering Medicaid and other payers discounts matching other developed countries. LINK

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TRIVIA

Which ocean is known for its vibrant and diverse marine life, including the Great Barrier Reef?

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ANSWER

The Pacific Ocean

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