Guardian Australia

What is a cash rate? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvgVH...

The Reserve Bank has hiked rates for the first time in over two years, with mortgage holders to bear the brunt of dealing with an unexpected jump in inflation through the second half of 2025.

The RBA monetary policy board at the end of its two-day meeting announced the cash rate target would lift to 3.85%, from 3.6%. The widely anticipated decision marks the end of the shortest rate-cutting cycle in the RBA’s modern history, following three reductions in the cash rate target in February, May and August of last year.

The quarter of a percentage point increase will increase the interest cost on a $600,000 home loan by $90 a month, bringing the monthly repayment to $3782, according to Canstar.

Some experts leading into the decision warned that a rate hike would be an overreaction to the recent uptick in inflation, and that it risked derailing an economic recovery.

Reporting by Patrick Commins.

22 hours ago | [YT] | 10

Guardian Australia

Musicians stepped out in ruffles, lace and trains – and the red carpet saw the return of the ‘free the nipple’ movement.

1. Sabrina Carpenter sparkles in a Valentino gown with a beaded bodice and a frilled, layered skirt. She’s nominated for six Grammys, including record of the year, album of the year and song of the year. Photograph: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

2. Chappell Roan says it with her whole chest. The musician arrived on the red carpet wearing a floor-length covering, before removing it to reveal her Mugler gown, which is held up with nipple rings. Photograph: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

3. FKA twigs looks positively witchy in her custom Paolo Carzana gown. At the premiere ceremony, the artist claimed the Grammy for best dance/electronic album for her record Eusexua. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

4. Tyla on the Grammys red carpet. The South African singer-songwriter is nominated for best African music performance for her song Push 2 Start. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

5. Lola Young gets the work-life balance right in these Vivienne Westwood trackpants and jumper, layered over a collared shirt and oversized striped tie. Photograph: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

6. Huntrix singers Rei Ami, Ejae, and Audrey Nuna show their sartorial range, from sensible to sculptural. Their trio are the vocalists behind the KPop Demon Hunters song Golden, which is nominated for song of the year. Photograph: Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

7. British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean poses on the red carpet in a feathered and sequinned Chanel dress. Dean is nominated for best new artist. Photograph: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

8. Doechii’s hazardous purple train is a cause for high anxiety – but will she overcome it by taking home the gong for record of the year? Photograph: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

9. Global girl group Katseye make their Grammys Debut (it’s a song) in six different versions of the same design by Ludovic de Saint Sernin. The group is nominated for best new artist, and lost out in the best duo/group performance category to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

10. Yungblud and Sharon Osbourne mug for the cameras. The musician brought Osbourne onstage while accepting the Grammy for covering Black Sabbath’s song Changes. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

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1 day ago | [YT] | 20

Guardian Australia

Bushfires, marches and a summer of sport – Guardian Australia’s best photos from around the country this month.

1. Journalist Claire Keenan takes up ocean swimming for the first time. ‘I’ve swum and squealed alongside enormous blue gropers, tiny stingrays, silver and striped fish and even a Port Jackson shark,’ she writes. Photograph: Jessica Hromas /The Guardian

2. A ‘Shark sighted’ sign on North Steyne beach. Several Sydney northern beaches were closed to the public after multiple shark attacks along the NSW coast. Photograph: George Chan /Getty Images

3. Sheep run through a paddock as bushfire smoke rises on nearby hills at Longwood, Victoria. Across the region houses were reduced to warped steel, with brick chimneys often the only thing left standing. Photograph: Steve Womersley /The Guardian

4. Artist Nina Sanadze is working with the Sydney Jewish Museum to transform the floral tributes from the Bondi beach attack into an artwork. Bec Lorrimer /The Gaurdian

5. People take part in an Invasion Day march through Sydney on 26 January. Photograph: Jeremy Piper / Reuters

6. Steve Smith falls to avoid a short delivery on day three of the fifth Ashes Test between Australia and England at the SCG. Photograph: David Gray /AFP/Getty Images

7. A procession of the world’s largest monumental bronze sculpture of St Charbel’s face moves through the streets of Punchbowl to St Charbel’s Church, before being placed permanently on the monastery building in Sydney. Photograph: Christopher Khoury /APA/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

8. At 17, Niki vowed to give her newborn son, born blind and profoundly disabled, the best life she could. Thirty years on, she and Jimmy are travelling Australia in a Toyota Troopy, balancing hard-won freedom and constant care. Photograph: Brook Mitchell

9. Tristan Devers dunks the ball during an NBL match between the Brisbane Bullets and Adelaide 36ers at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre. Photograph: Matt Roberts /Getty images

10. Elvis fans gather to celebrate the king of rock’n’roll at the Parkes Elvis festival. The festival, which can triple the NSW town’s population, is marking its 33rd year with the theme of Love Me Tender. Photograph: Stephanie Gardiner /AAP

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4 days ago | [YT] | 46

Guardian Australia

A late attempt to add a public holiday to create an Anzac Day long weekend, falling into line with Western Australia and the ACT, is being considered by the New South Wales government.

The premier, Chris Minns, on Thursday said his government is in talks to create a new public holiday, accounting for Anzac Day falling on a Saturday.

Remembrance services will be held nationwide on 25 April but only people in Western Australia and the ACT will get an additional public holiday on the next Monday.

📷: Noosa Life Images/Alamy

Read the full story. 🔗👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jan/29/ext…

5 days ago | [YT] | 28

Guardian Australia

Parts of New South Wales and south-western Queensland could be on track for more record-setting temperatures on Wednesday as a heatwave that has gripped south-eastern Australia persists.

By midday the temperature in Wilcannia, in NSW’s west, was 45.4C, with a forecast maximum of 48C, while in Bourke, the mercury had climbed to 41.3C with a maximum of 47C.

Other areas in the state’s south-west, including the town of Ivanhoe, could hit 48C.

The temperature in Thargomindah in far south-western Queensland is forecast to reach 49C on Wednesday – close to the all-time Queensland record of 49.5C set in Birdsville in 1972.

📷: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

Reporting by Lisa Cox, environment and climate correspondent. Read the full story. 🔗👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jan/28/tem…

6 days ago | [YT] | 46

Guardian Australia

First Nations communities, families and allies turned out on 26 January to rally for justice and celebrate survival.



1. Rally organisers in Sydney called out One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson. Photograph: George Chan/Getty Images

2. Protesters at Hyde park. A speaker at the Sydney Invasion Day rally criticised the Minns government for ‘silencing protests’ in the wake of last month’s Bondi beach terror attack.Photograph: Steven Markham/AFP/Getty Images

3. People hold a huge Aboriginal flag during an Invasion Day rally at Hyde park in Sydney. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

4. Protesters march past Central station in Sydney. Photograph: George Chan/Getty Images

5. A young Indigenous girl looks out at the crowd from the stage during the Sydney rally. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

6. An Invasion Day rally in Canberra began with a smoking ceremony. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

7. Thousands march through Sydney’s CBD, from Hyde park to Victoria park, where the Yabun cultural festival is held. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

8. The sails of the Sydney Opera House are illuminated by Dharawal, Bidjigal and Dhungutti man Garry Purchase’s artwork Dancing in the Moonlight during the dawn reflection ceremony in Sydney. Photograph: George Chan/Getty Images

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1 week ago | [YT] | 124

Guardian Australia

All the drama from the first grand slam of the year at Melbourne Park featuring Alex de Minaur, Aryna Sabalenka, Naomi Osaka, Jannik Sinner and the Special Ks. 🎾



1. Maria Camila Osorio Serrano of Colombia serves during the first round. Photograph: Dar Yasin/AP

2. Anastasia Potapova in action during her first-round match against the Netherlands’ Suzan Lamens. Photograph: Tingshu Wang/Reuters

3. Alycia Parks of the US in action during her first round match against the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala. Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters

4. Australia’s Alex de Minaur reacts during his second-round match against Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

5. Daniil Medvedev of Russia serves against Jesper de Jong of the Netherlands during the first round. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

6. Australia’s Maddison Inglis reacts after defeating Germany’s Laura Siegemund. Photograph: Jaimi Joy/Reuters

7. Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts while competing against Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah of France in the first round. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

8. American Amanda Anisimova serves against Kateřina Siniaková of the Czech Republic in the second round. Photograph: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

9. Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand against Francesco Maestrelli of Italy. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

10. Australian James Duckworth hits a return to Jannik Sinner during their men’s singles match. Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

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1 week ago | [YT] | 21

Guardian Australia

Australians perform good deeds, say prayers and hold each other close on Thursday 22 January as they remember the 15 victims of the mass shooting at the Hanukah event in Bondi on 14 December. 🙏



1. Mourners pay tribute to victims on the overpass where the Bondi beach attackers carried out their act of terror on 14 December. Photograph: Steven Markham/AFP/Getty Images

2. People pass the makeshift memorial in front of the Bondi Pavilion, close to Archer Park where the mass shooting took place. Photograph: Steven Markham/AFP/Getty Images

3. A man stands in front of a makeshift memorial at the Bondi Pavilion. Photograph: Steven Markham/AFP/Getty Images

4. Morning prayers at Sydney’s Great Synagogue. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Image

5. A vigil at St Paul’s cathedral in Melbourne. Photograph: Luis Ascui Newswire/News Corp Australia

6. Children come together to cook a meal for people in need as a part of the One Mitzvah for Bondi campaign organised by the Kids Giving Back charity. Photograph: Rémi Chauvin/The Guardian

7. The Australian flag flies at half-mast over the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. Photograph: Jesse Thompson/Getty Images

8. Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, senior rabbi, Chabad of Bondi, speaks to media outside the Sydney Opera House before a memorial service. Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AAP

9. Families and representatives light candles representing the 15 victims of the Bondi shooting during a memorial service at the Sydney Opera House. Photograph: George Chan/Getty Images

10. Sunrise at Bondi beach, Sydney on 22 January. Photograph: George Chan/Getty Images

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1 week ago | [YT] | 34

Guardian Australia

Gen X households now hold the most property wealth of any generation as baby boomers downsize their homes and move more of their money into cash and retirement accounts.

Once known as the ‘slacker generation’, those born between 1965 and 1980 are mostly now aged over 50 years and have enjoyed years of inflated home prices.

Gen X households average $1.455m in wealth from dwellings and land, according to an analysis of ABS and census data by KPMG.

📷: Lukas Coch/AAP

Read the full story. 🔗👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jan/22/gen…

1 week ago | [YT] | 29

Guardian Australia

Retired Australian basketballer Andrew Ogilvy has come out as gay.

The three-time All-NBL first team centre made the announcement in an interview with Adelaide 36ers star Isaac Humphries as part of the NBL’s fourth annual pride round.

‘There’s now a place for us to have this conversation, to be able to talk as openly as this,’ Ogilvy said, asked about his decision to come out.

‘If people want to talk to someone, people want to be able to ask opinions, ask questions, it gives them someone else to reach to.’

📷: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Read the full story. 🏳️‍🌈👉 www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jan/22/basketball-a…

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