Weekly brief: rates rise to 4.85%, a December privacy deadline and WA cost pressures

AI models and tools: phone calls, pictures and security checks

For transparency, this brief is written with Anthropic's Claude. It was a quiet week for headline model launches. Most of the changes were aimed at developers, the people who build AI into other software, but they still show where everyday tools are heading.

OpenAI's developer changelog lists three updates. On 2 November it made outbound phone calling available to all organisations using its Live API. A developer can now connect its GPT-Live model to a phone number through a SIP provider, the kind of service that links internet phone systems to the ordinary phone network.¹ On 4 November it released two image models, GPT-Image-2.6 Sunburst and Flare, for creating and editing pictures, including SVG files (a graphics format that stays sharp at any size) and animated GIFs.¹ On 5 November it released GPT-6-Cyber, a model for investigating security weaknesses in software, reproducing them in authorised test environments and checking that fixes work.¹

What it means for a small business: AI that makes phone calls is moving from demonstrations to something any developer can build into a product. If a supplier offers you software that calls customers for you, ask what it says, how customers know they are talking to software, whether calls are recorded and who checks the results. For pictures, a quote cover or social media post can now be made in minutes. Just don't present an AI-made image as a photo of a real job.

AI trends: a privacy duty for automated decisions starts on 10 December

From 10 December 2026, organisations covered by the Privacy Act that use personal information in automated decision-making, where the decision could affect someone's rights or interests, must say so in their privacy policy. The policy must describe the kinds of personal information used and the kinds of decisions made this way.² In plain terms, automated decision-making means letting software, including AI, make or help make a decision about a person.

The duty comes from the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) consulted on guidance earlier this year, with submissions closing on 15 June, but its consultation page does not yet say that final guidance has been published.²

Many small businesses sit outside the Privacy Act. The OAIC defines a small business as one with annual turnover of $3 million or less.³ Some are covered whatever their size, including health service providers, businesses that trade in personal information, contractors providing services under a Commonwealth contract and businesses that have chosen to opt in.³

What it means: if your business is covered and you use software to approve credit accounts, screen job applicants or decide which customers get which offers, check your privacy policy before 10 December. If you are not sure whether the Act applies to you, the OAIC's small business page has a checklist.³

Work and productivity software: more AI in the admin settings

Microsoft's release notes for Microsoft 365 Copilot, its AI assistant, list several changes dated 4 November. They include a report in the admin centre showing how staff use AI agents, a SharePoint list agent that builds a list from a plain-English request, and AI Workflows in Teams, which run prompt templates on a schedule.⁴ Microsoft says AI Workflows are off by default unless the Workflows app is enabled.⁴ A week earlier, on 27 October, it let administrators create and deploy custom MCP connectors. MCP is a common standard for linking AI assistants to other software.⁴

Google's roundup of October updates for Google Workspace, published on 29 October, adds Markdown editing in Docs and Markdown previews in Drive, voice tools called Gmail Live and Docs Live, and real-time speech translation in Meet across 63 languages.⁵ It also describes an import service for moving Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint data into Google's apps, which Google says is up to five times faster and comes at no additional cost.⁵ Google says the updates are rolling out now, but the post does not say which editions or countries get each feature, so check what your own account shows.⁵

What it means: the important decisions are increasingly in the admin settings, not the apps. Someone in the business, or your IT provider, should know which AI agents and connectors are switched on, who can add new ones and whether anyone reads the usage reports.

Workforce: another rate rise, and slower growth ahead

On 3 November the Reserve Bank raised the cash rate by 25 basis points (0.25 percentage points) to 4.85%. The decision was split: six members voted for the rise and three preferred to hold at 4.60%.⁶ The Bank said underlying inflation is broadly based, and that higher fuel prices are being passed on to other goods and services. It does not expect inflation to reach the top of its 2–3% target range until late 2027, and it noted that the unemployment rate has risen.⁶

The Bank's November Statement on Monetary Policy sets out its forecasts. It now expects headline inflation of 4.5% over the year to December 2026, up from its previous forecast of 3.6%.⁷ It forecasts the unemployment rate to rise to 4.7% by December 2026 and 4.9% by December 2027, and growth in the economy (GDP) of 1.6% over the year to December 2026.⁷ These are forecasts, not results. The Bank names energy prices as a key risk if shipping and refining disruptions linked to the Middle East conflict continue.⁷

The latest price figures explain the concern. Consumer prices rose 4.3% in the 12 months to September 2026, up from 4.0% in August. The trimmed mean, a measure that strips out the biggest price swings, rose 3.6%.⁸ Automotive fuel was up 23.6% over the year, and electricity was up 12.8%, mainly because Commonwealth electricity rebates ended.⁸

Nationally, the share of working-age people with a job was 63.6% in September, seasonally adjusted, down 0.3 points on August.⁹

Perth and WA: a lower jobless rate, but costs are biting

WA's unemployment rate was 4.2% in September, seasonally adjusted, down 0.2 points. In trend terms it was 4.3%, unchanged. WA's participation rate, the share of adults working or looking for work, was 69.1%, seasonally adjusted.⁹ Prices are rising faster here than nationally: Perth's consumer prices rose 4.5% over the year to September.⁸

Building costs are moving too. Input prices for house construction in Perth rose 0.4% in the September quarter and 3.6% over the year, with plastic pipework and fittings up 6.8% in the quarter.¹⁰ Nationally, plumbing products rose 9.4% and electrical equipment 14.5% over the year. The prices WA house builders receive rose 7.8% over the year.¹⁰

At CCIWA's Small Business Summit in Perth, attended by more than 200 small business representatives, chief economist Dr Daniel Kiely said small businesses are carrying more of the burden of current conditions than larger ones.¹¹ He named rising input costs, wages, taxes and charges and a possible fall in consumer spending.¹¹

Payroll tax was a common theme. CCIWA wants the WA Government to raise the $1 million threshold, and it welcomed the WA Opposition's pledge to lift it to $1.5 million.¹² CCIWA's example is a business that paid $800,000 in wages in 2020 and would now be over $1 million through wage increases alone.¹² This is an opposition pledge and an industry proposal, not a change to the law.

CCIWA also welcomed the WA Government's Plan for Affordable Energy. It includes investment in transmission, support for household renewables and an energy affordability fund for WA manufacturers, and CCIWA noted that more workers will be needed to build it.¹³

What it means for service businesses and trades

Whether you run a cleaning company, a plumbing or electrical business, an IT support firm or a small agency, a few steps follow from this week's news.

1. Check your prices against fuel and materials. Fuel rose 23.6% over the year to September.⁸ Plumbing products rose 9.4% and electrical equipment 14.5%.¹⁰ Review call-out fees, travel charges and material margins, and how long the prices in your quotes stay valid.
2. Plan for higher borrowing costs. If you have variable-rate business loans, vehicle finance or an overdraft, ask your lender or accountant what the 3 November rise means for your repayments and cash flow.⁶
3. Check your privacy policy before 10 December. If the Privacy Act covers you and software makes or helps make decisions about customers or staff, your policy needs to say so.²
4. Decide who can switch on AI features. Agents, connectors and scheduled AI workflows are now controlled from admin settings.⁴ Agree who may turn them on, and review what they can reach.
5. Watch payroll tax if you are growing. If wage rises are bringing you close to the WA threshold, talk to your accountant now, whatever happens to the proposals.¹²