The Reserve Bank flagged a 4.5% inflation peak in the June quarter on Wednesday, while Treasury locked in 1 October 2026 as the day card surcharges disappear from Australian point-of-sale terminals. Shoppers also got the ACCC’s first Federal Court action against an online marketplace, and Woolworths quietly turned on a Gemini-powered shopping assistant. EOFY 2026 just got more interesting.
RBA flags 4.5% inflation peak, card surcharges end 1 October
Governor Michele Bullock told the Senate Economics Committee on Wednesday that headline inflation is on track to peak at 4.5% in the June quarter before easing through the second half of 2026, according to her prepared remarks published by the Reserve Bank. Bullock used the same testimony to confirm the Treasurer’s earlier announcement that surcharging on Visa, Mastercard and EFTPOS debit and credit cards will end at all Australian merchants from 1 October 2026, with interchange caps also lowering on the same day.
For shoppers the cards reform is simple money back. The Reserve Bank’s own modelling pegs the annual saving at roughly $60 per adult, with the heaviest gains landing on households who tap-pay at hospitality and small-merchant terminals. The interchange cap reduction (capped at 0.30% for credit, 0.06% for debit) should also feed through to lower headline prices over the following 6 to 12 months as merchants reset menu boards and shelf tags. If a retailer in your local strip still surcharges you 1.5% on a debit tap on 2 October, that is now the merchant absorbing it as a loss, not the law.
ACCC takes Amazon to Federal Court, first marketplace test
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission filed proceedings in the Federal Court against Amazon Commercial Services last week (its first case against an online marketplace operator), ABC News consumer affairs reporter Daniel Ziffer wrote on 29 May. The case centres on Unicorn Toddler Backpacks sold through Amazon Australia between November 2023 and December 2024, with allegedly unsecured button batteries and inadequate compliance warnings.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the action is a “significant test of whether online marketplaces can be held to the same standards as bricks-and-mortar retailers for products sold on their platforms”. For Australian parents the practical takeaway is the one this brief has been running since Issue 01: if it goes in a child’s hand, a kitchen, or near a power point, prefer an AU-owned retailer with local fulfilment, a returns desk you can call, and product compliance you can verify in writing.
Woolworths quietly launches Gemini-powered shopping assistant
Woolworths Group has switched on a Google Gemini-powered conversational shopping assistant inside the Woolworths app, the University of Western Australia retail analytics team noted on 4 June. The assistant handles natural-language meal planning (“dinner for four under $40 with no nuts”), basket completion, and shelf-tag price comparison across the loyalty programme. Coles is understood to be running a closed pilot of an Anthropic-backed equivalent and is expected to launch publicly before Christmas.
For shoppers this is a genuine convenience lift on price comparison and dietary filtering, but the prompt engineering matters. Ask the assistant to surface the cheapest unit-price option in a category rather than the recommended product, and verify the AU-source flag if local provenance matters to you.
EOFY 2026 deal landscape, week 2 of June
The headline EOFY catalogues are now live across the AU majors. Myer’s EOFY sale runs through 30 June with up to 60% off beauty and homewares, while TechRadar’s EOFY tech tracker is showing JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys and Bing Lee all running matched-pricing weeks through the month. The premium discount opportunities, the ones worth waiting for, are concentrated in the homepage retailers we audit every dawn.
Top 5 Deals of the Day
Five stores. Five categories. The deepest headline discounts surfaced from a sweep of every retailer on It’s On Sale, audited at dawn.
Sportsgirl
Womens Fashion
Up to 90% off the runway-leaning Sportsgirl sale floor: party dresses, knits, denim and accessories with EOFY clearance running deepest in size 6 to 14.
Rebel Sport
Sport & Fitness
Up to 85% off Rebel’s fangear clearance, plus solid sweep through running, footy and basketball footwear in mid-tier brands.
Elite Supplements
Health & Supplements
Up to 80% off whey, pre-workout, BCAAs and recovery stacks. Australian-owned, Brisbane warehouse, free shipping over $150 if you stack.
Kick Push Skate
Skate & Wheels
Up to 78% off skate decks, complete setups, helmets and apparel. AU-owned, Brisbane-based, free shipping over $99.
Baku Swimwear
Swim & Beach
Up to 70% off Aussie-designed swim, resort and rash vests. Strong end-of-season clearance in size 8 to 16.
% discounts shown are indicative across each store’s sale range. Individual product savings vary.
Other Deals Worth a Look
- Grahams Jewellers: up to 70% off sterling silver and gold-plated pieces. Sensible mid-year gifting category before the July price resets.
- Myer EOFY: up to 60% off beauty (including 40% off selected Lancôme and Estée Lauder) and 50% off bed linen through 30 June.
- Dan Murphy’s: EOFY wine and spirits clearance running with up to 50% off selected packages. Worth a browse for Australian reds before the July uplifts.
- Spotlight: winter linen and electric blankets at up to 60% off for VIPs, KOO bamboo cotton sheet sets remain the standout pick.
What to watch
Three signals shape spending between now and the 30 June EOFY close. The June quarter Wage Price Index lands on 13 August, the July monthly CPI indicator on 28 August, and household consumption data through July tells us whether the cards-reform $60 a head is actually showing up in receipts. A material upside surprise on services inflation puts the RBA’s “scope to pause” language at risk, which means the current mortgage rate plateau (6.10% to 6.25% for prime owner-occupiers) is the easier half of 2026.
Tomorrow’s brief: a deep dive into the Sportsgirl 90% mark, plus a working-from-home EOFY claim checklist for the self-employed.
