Day one of the 2026 to 2027 financial year, and three things land in the shopper’s lap on the same morning. The National Minimum Wage steps up 5.97 per cent to $1,004.90 a week. The income tax rate on the $18,201 to $45,000 bracket falls from 16 per cent to 15 per cent. Paid parental leave extends from 24 to 26 weeks at the minimum wage, payday super begins, and the Super Guarantee reaches 12 per cent. At the same time, the consumer regulator has just pressed the button on its biggest subscription-economy case of 2026: a Federal Court action against Amazon Australia over allegedly unfair Prime contract terms that paved the way for ads on Prime Video. The first pay packet of the new year is bigger, and the consumer watchdog is on the warpath.
The ACCC Just Sued Amazon Australia Over Prime Video Ads
On Tuesday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission filed proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia against Amazon Australia (Amazon Commercial Services Pty Ltd) over allegedly unfair contract terms in Prime annual subscriptions. The case alleges Amazon AU included five unfair terms in its Prime contracts between November 2023 and August 2025, and then relied on those terms to introduce advertising to Prime Video in July 2024 and charge subscribers an extra $2.99 per month for an ad-free option, with no refund offered to subscribers who chose to cancel (Amber Schultz reporting for Bloomberg, 30 June 2026).
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said in a statement that “Amazon AU included multiple unfair terms in its contracts with Australian annual Prime subscribers, and it then relied on some of these terms to bring ads onto Amazon Prime Video” (Lim Hui Jie reporting for CNBC, 30 June 2026). More than 850,000 annual Prime subscribers in Australia were affected, and the ACCC has also alleged that Amazon US (Amazon.com Services LLC) was knowingly concerned in the conduct (Caron Beaton-Wells writing for The Conversation, 30 June 2026). The maximum financial penalty is the greater of $50 million, three times the benefit obtained, or 30 per cent of adjusted turnover during the breach period.
For the shopper the read is direct. Any recurring subscription (streaming, mobile plan, energy retail, gym, software, news, kids subscription box) bought as a one-year prepaid product can have its terms quietly degraded mid-contract. The ACCC case sends a market-wide signal that adverse-changes clauses without pro-rata refunds will not stand. The lever every household has tonight is to read the cancellation and adverse-changes clauses on every recurring spend before the next renewal, and flag any one-year prepay where the terms can be unilaterally degraded.
The Pay Rise Starts Working Through Pay Slips Today
The Fair Work Commission’s 2026 Annual Wage Review takes effect with the first full pay period on or after 1 July. The National Minimum Wage lifts 5.97 per cent, taking the weekly rate from $948.00 to $1,004.90, or $26.44 per hour (Australian Unions minimum wage fact sheet). Modern award minimum wages rise 4.75 per cent across the board, benefiting around 2.8 million Australian workers, with the lowest-paid 100,000 entry-level workers receiving the bigger 5.97 per cent uplift (Caitlin Cassidy and Sarah Basford Canales writing for the Guardian, 30 June 2026).
The income tax cut compounds with the wage rise. The marginal rate on the $18,201 to $45,000 bracket steps down from 16 per cent to 15 per cent, worth up to $268 per taxpayer per year (Effie Zahos and team at Canstar). For a full-time minimum-wage worker the combined uplift, weekly cash plus annual tax saving, is the most meaningful real-wage shift since the 2024 stage 3 cuts. The first pay packet of the new financial year is the moment a household budget gets to recalibrate.
Payday Super, Parental Leave, And Two State-Level Cost-Of-Living Wins
From this morning, employers must pay superannuation simultaneously with wages instead of quarterly (the payday super regime starts). The Super Guarantee also reaches 12 per cent today, completing the SG ramp-up. Paid parental leave at the National Minimum Wage extends from 24 to 26 weeks (an extra 10 days, totalling 130 days) for children born or adopted from today, giving Australian parents a full six months of paid leave at the floor wage (ABC News, 30 June 2026).
Two state-level wins land at the same time. In NSW, toll relief and public transport relief measures begin today. In Victoria, the Essential Services Commission cuts the default electricity price for the 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 period. Standing electricity plans in NSW and south-east Queensland are also expected to fall between 3.4 per cent and 10.7 per cent versus 2025 to 2026 (Tory Shepherd writing for The Guardian, syndicated via Inkl). The household budget enters the new year materially lighter on fixed costs in two of the three biggest state energy markets, on top of the wage and tax wins.
Five Fresh Australian Stores For Day One Of FY2026 To 27
Five stores. Five categories. Six fresh names today (none repeated from yesterday’s EOFY close), audited at dawn on day one of the new financial year.
Discount
SurfstitchSurf & ActiveUp to 90 per cent off Surfstitch’s sale: tees, hoodies, board shorts, dresses, swim, fleece and outerwear from the Gold Coast-founded Australian-owned surf retailer, with a stand-out item-level cut like the Nat’v Basics Miami Bodysuit at $6 down from $60 and free Australian shipping on orders over $100.90%OFF2
MyerDepartment StoreUp to 82 per cent off Myer’s Stocktake Sale: homewares, kitchenware, beauty, fashion, manchester and small appliances from the iconic Australian-owned department store, with verified item-level cuts like the KitchenAid Medium Stoneware Baker at $10 down from $56 and click and collect from 50 plus stores nationwide.82%OFF3
DuskHomewares & CandlesUp to 80 per cent off Dusk’s End of Season Sale: candles, diffusers, incense, ceramics, throws, bath and home fragrance from the Australian-owned candle and home specialist, with verified item-level cuts like the Nova White Incense Holder at $5 down from $24.99 and click and collect from 130 plus Australian stores.80%OFF4
JB Hi-FiElectronicsUp to 54 per cent off JB Hi-Fi’s hottest deals: robot vacuums, tablets, smart watches, laptops, headphones, TVs and small kitchen from the iconic Australian-owned electronics chain, with verified item-level cuts like the ECOVACS X11 OmniCyclone robot vacuum at $1,388 down from $2,999 and click and collect from 200 plus stores nationwide.53%OFF5
Pillow TalkBeddingUp to 52 per cent off Pillow Talk’s storewide sale: quilt covers, sheets, pillowcases, throws, towels, decor and bath from the Australian-owned bedding specialist, with verified item-level cuts like the Isadora Palm European Pillowcase at $11.95 down from $24.95 and free shipping on orders over $100.52%OFF% discounts shown are indicative across each store’s sale range. Individual product savings vary.
Other Deals Worth A Look
Beyond the Top 5, five other Australian-owned stores are still running deep cuts this morning. Koala is at 30 per cent off the Bottlebrush Rug at $315 from $450 from the Sydney-headquartered Australian-owned furniture and mattress brand (the Top 6 ticker pick today). Target is running an extended clearance from the Australian-owned mid-market department chain. Best and Less has its winter clearance live from the Australian-owned value fashion retailer. Lightspot is still running up to 89 per cent off the lighting clearance from the South Australian-owned lighting specialist. Macpac has continued the up to 50 per cent off Macpac apparel range from the Australian-owned outdoor brand. None are in today’s Top 5 but each is worth a scan over morning coffee.
Our Take
Day one of the new financial year is the strongest combined household uplift since the 2024 stage 3 cuts. The wage rise, the tax bracket cut, the parental leave extension and the energy price falls in two states all land at once. At the same time the ACCC’s Amazon case is the loudest message to the subscription economy in years: unilateral mid-contract degradations of paid services without refunds will be litigated. The two stories together tell a single shopper story. The household enters FY2026 to 27 with more weekly cash, lower fixed costs, and a regulator on the side of the consumer challenging the contracts the household signs without reading. The discipline this morning is to take the uplift, audit the recurring subscriptions for unfair adverse-changes clauses, and put the freed dollars into items the household actually uses.
The shoppable side of It’s On Sale is built for that decision. We track 35,000 Australian stores and 45,000 live sale products, every retailer Australian-owned and locally fulfilled, every promotion audited daily. Today’s Sales shows every store currently running a discount in one place. Our AI search reads the way real shoppers ask (try “winter work shoes” or “robot vacuum under 1500”). You will never find Temu, Shein, AliExpress or any offshore marketplace dressed up as a local brand here. Browse Today’s Sales on day one of the new year.