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Refinancing Your Home Loan in Australia: When and How to Save

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Last updated: 5 August 2026  |  General information only Refinancing in a nutshell Start by asking your current lender for a better rate. Compare the interest rate, comparison rate, fees, features and remaining loan term. Calculate how long it will take to recover every switching cost. Check break fees, lender's mortgage insurance (LMI) and your serviceability before applying. A lower repayment is not automatically a saving if the new loan extends your term. A lower home-loan rate can reduce both your monthly repayment and the interest you pay over time. But refinancing is not automatically a good deal. Fees, a longer loan term, fewer useful features or a new LMI premium can wipe out the benefit. The right question is not simply, “Can I get a lower rate?” It is: “After all costs, will the new loan leave me better off over the period I expect to keep it?” As at 5 August 2026, the Reserve Bank of Austral...
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How to Claim a Tax Deduction for Home Office in Australia 2026

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Last updated: July 2026 | Reading time: 10 min 📋 Quick Summary — Home Office Deduction 2025–26 Fixed rate (2025–26) 70 cents per hour worked from home Record keeping required Diary or log of actual hours — no more four-week representative period What's included in 70c rate Internet, electricity, phone — cannot claim these separately What's NOT included Desk, chair, monitor, laptop — claim separately if over $300 Alternative method Actual cost method — more complex, may give higher deduction Where to enter in myTax Deductions → Other work-related expenses When I first started working from home two days a week while running my Queensland business, I had no idea the 70-cent fixed rate even existed. For two years I'd been manually tallying electricity bills and trying to calculate a rough percentage — the hard way — before my accountant pointed me to the ATO's fixed rate method. The math...
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Salary Sacrifice Australia 2026: How It Works and What You Can Sacrifice

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Last updated: July 2026  |  Reading time: 11 min 📋 Quick Summary — Salary Sacrifice 2026-27 What it is Pre-tax salary redirected to approved benefits, reducing taxable income Most common uses Super contributions, novated lease (car), NFP living expenses Super concessional cap (2026-27) $32,500 total (employer SG + salary sacrifice) NFP living expenses cap $9,010 per FBT year (1 April – 31 March) EV novated lease FBT Exempt (below luxury car tax threshold ~$91,387) Effect on HECS repayments Does NOT reduce HECS repayment income — added back by ATO Employer requirement Voluntary — employer must agree and be set up to administer A colleague of mine had been salary sacrificing $10,000 per year into super for three years before she realised it wasn't reducing her HECS repayments the way she'd assumed. Someone told her it would lower her repayment income — it doesn't. The ATO adds reportable employer super contributions b...
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Youth Allowance Australia 2026: Rates, Income Test, Eligibility and Calculator

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Last updated: July 2026  |  Reading time: 10 min 📋 Quick Summary — Youth Allowance (2026) Age range (students) 16–24 years old (up to 25 if still studying) Age range (job seekers) 16–21 years old (22+ → JobSeeker Payment) Rate — single, living away from home $762.70 per fortnight Rate — single, living at home $462.50 per fortnight Student income free area $480 per fortnight Job seeker income free area $150 per fortnight Who can apply? Eligible students, apprentices and job seekers under the relevant age limits Income Bank Available to students and apprentices, up to $11,800 Next indexation 1 January 2027 When I was at university, a friend of mine was working two casual shifts a week and assumed he earned too much to qualify for Youth Allowance. He'd never actually run the numbers. When he finally checked, he was entitled to a partial payment of around $400 a fortnight — money he'd left unclaimed for almo...
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