All Posts

For a long time, managers had the louder voice at work. They assigned tasks, gave feedback and helped decide who got promoted. If a manager was difficult to work with, employees often had little choice but to put up with it—or leave quietly. That balance is changing. Employees talk to one another, compare experiences and share what it’s really like to work for a particular manager. A reputation can now travel well beyond one team, and bad management can follow a leader from r

A fair workplace doesn’t always mean treating everyone exactly the same. People bring different experiences, needs and barriers to work. Understanding the difference between equality and equity can help us build workplaces where everyone has a genuine chance to contribute and progress. Equality means giving everyone the same support or opportunity. Equity means recognising that people may need different support to reach a fair opportunity. Think of a team training session sch

A job interview can cost you money before you’ve even had the chance to earn any. Getting to an interview may mean paying for petrol, parking, public transport, or a rideshare. If petrol is between $2.33 and $2.85 per litre, even a short drive can add up, especially when you’re attending several interviews or travelling a long distance. What might one interview cost? Here’s a simple example for a 40 km return trip in a car that uses 8 litres per 100 km: Petrol: 3.2 litres, or

The news used to tell us what mattered. Now it often tells us what might make us click. Once upon a time, journalism was supposed to do a fairly straightforward job: find out what happened, check the facts, and explain why it mattered. These days, it can feel like the first question is a little different: How do we get you to tap this before you scroll past? That shift has consequences. A headline like “You won’t believe what happened next” promises a revelation. The story be

Needing time away for medical care can feel personal, especially when you’re unsure how much detail to share at work. The good news: you can be clear, responsible, and professional without explaining your diagnosis or treatment. Start by deciding what your manager genuinely needs to know: the dates or expected duration of your absence, any flexibility you may need, and a plan for urgent work. You do not need to lead with private medical details. A simple conversation might so

Short answer: often, yes , but it depends on the injury, the role and the adjustment. In Australia, an injury may be covered as a disability under federal anti-discrimination law. If you can still perform the essential (“inherent”) requirements of your job with reasonable support, your employer generally needs to consider and provide reasonable workplace adjustments. An adjustment might include altered hours, working from home, extra breaks, equipment, changes to how particul

Changing departments can be a great way to grow your career without leaving a company you already know. You keep the relationships, culture, and institutional knowledge you’ve built, while taking on work that better suits your interests and strengths. Here’s how to make the move thoughtfully. Get clear on what you want next Before looking for openings, identify what is drawing you to a different department. Is it the type of work, the chance to develop new skills, a different

Being dismissed does not automatically mean your employer acted unfairly. But if the decision or process felt wrong, it is worth checking the facts quickly, strict time limits apply. Here are seven signs that may point to an unfair dismissal. 1. There was no valid reason for ending your employment Your employer should have a sound reason connected to your conduct, capacity or the genuine operational needs of the business. A vague explanation, shifting reasons, or an allegatio

For years, the post-work drink was one of Australia’s most reliable rituals. It was the decompression pint after a long shift, the spontaneous “one quick one” with colleagues, the midweek pasta catch-up when nobody could face cooking. It was how friendships were maintained, dates were started and hard weeks were softened around a small table. But increasingly, Australians are making a different choice: home. Not necessarily because they do not want to see friends. Many are si

A better job should not require permission from your former boss. The Australian Government has released draft legislation to ban non-compete clauses for employees earning below the Fair Work Act’s high-income threshold, currently $190,100 a year. If passed, the changes are expected to begin in 2027. Non-compete clauses are restrictions buried in employment contracts that can prevent someone from joining a competitor, starting a similar business, or working in a particular ar

Tap and go might be convenient, but some Australian hospitality businesses are saying they’d rather go back to cash. And it’s not because they suddenly hate technology. It’s because of fees. From 1 October 2026, Australian businesses will no longer be able to charge customers a surcharge for payments made using EFTPOS, Visa and Mastercard under new Reserve Bank of Australia payment rules. For customers, that sounds pretty good. No more adding a 1.5% or 2% fee to your morning

Sometimes, moving to a small town changes what you want from work. You may be looking for a role with less pressure, fewer hours, or responsibilities that end when the day does. You might genuinely want to step back from managing people, chasing promotions, or being the person everyone turns to when something goes wrong. But when your résumé shows years of experience, employers can hesitate. They may wonder: Will this person get bored? Will they leave as soon as something big

Changing careers in your 40s, 50s, or beyond can feel intimidating, but it is far more common, and more achievable, than it first appears. The key is not making one dramatic leap. It is creating small, low-risk moves that build clarity, confidence, and momentum. Make the next step easy Big goals often stall because they feel too vague or too demanding. Reduce the friction by choosing one small action at a time. This week, you could: Update the first paragraph of your résumé.

For decades, career success was measured in a simple equation: higher salary = better job. But that equation is being rewritten in real time. Across industries, age groups, and career stages, people are increasingly prioritising flexibility over pay and it’s not just a passing trend. It’s a fundamental shift in how we define work, success, and quality of life. The Redefinition of “Value” Salary used to be the clearest, most tangible indicator of value. Today, value has become

Leaving a new job quickly can feel awkward to explain. But if the role materially differed from what was described during the interview, a short tenure is not a character flaw, it’s evidence you noticed a mismatch and made a thoughtful decision. The key is to be honest, calm, and brief. You do not need to share every disappointing detail. Avoid sounding bitter, blaming your former employer, or giving a long defence. Instead, frame it around fit, clarity, and what you learned.

LinkedIn was built on a simple promise: make opportunity visible. Today, for many job seekers, it can feel more like a cemetery of roles that look alive but lead nowhere. The pattern is familiar. You find a role that matches your experience. The listing is polished, current-looking, and marked “actively recruiting.” You tailor your résumé, write a thoughtful application, and submit it; often sharing your employment history, contact details, salary expectations, location, and

ChatGPT was supposed to be a tool. Now NSW is asking whether it has made some school assessments impossible to trust. There was a time when being given a Year 12 assignment meant heading home, opening a laptop, searching Google, reading a few articles, writing a few thousand words and probably procrastinating somewhere in between. Now there is another option. Open ChatGPT. Within seconds, students can generate an essay, restructure an argument, explain a complex topic, create

At first, everything feels easy. You and your manager click.You’re trusted. Supported. Given opportunities.You’re the one they rely on. The “safe pair of hands.” You’re their go-to. And then… something shifts. The energy changes. The feedback feels different. The support? Not quite the same. You haven’t changed, but suddenly, it feels like you have. Welcome to the Pet-to-Threat dynamic. So what actually is it? The Pet-to-Threat theory is a pattern that shows up more often tha

And apparently, that's the problem. But here's what they're not saying: They're using bots and ATS systems to screen candidates at scale. Technology filtering out real people before a human ever reads a word. So candidates using AI to write their CVs? That's not the problem. That's just leveling the playing field. The real problem is the recruitment process is broken. One of my clients recently quit her job to job hunt full time. Not because she wanted to. Because the process

Overtime can help meet a genuine business need, but it is not simply a matter of telling employees to stay back. Before requesting extra hours, employers should balance operational needs with each employee’s legal entitlements, safety and personal circumstances. Start with the “reasonable additional hours” test For most employees covered by Australia’s national workplace relations system, the baseline is: Full-time employees: 38 hours per week, plus reasonable additional hour