A happy June to all and sundry! It’s the end of financial year for many, so before I jump into the usual handful of interesting creative business snippets from around the web, here are three things which should be on your radar before 1 July ticks over.
- Payday Super kicks in on 1 July — your payroll process needs to change now.
From 1 July, employers need to pay superannuation contributions at the same time they pay their employees’ wages, with contributions reaching employees’ nominated accounts within 7 business days. If you’re not doing this already, cash flow issues may ensue. More details here.
- Branded SMS? Register your Sender ID before 1 July or your messages will look like scams.
From 1 July, any business sending text messages under a branded name — like “JoesPlumbing” instead of a phone number — must have that name registered on ACMA’s new SMS Sender ID Register. If your sender ID isn’t registered, your messages will be labelled “Unverified” and grouped with potential scam texts. Deets here.
- Paid Parental Leave just got longer.
PPL is increasing to 26 weeks from 1 July 2026. The payment itself is government-funded, but employers still need to manage the operational consequences of an employee taking parental leave. There’s also a new detail: from 1 July 2026, four weeks are reserved for the partner on a “use it or lose it” basis, to encourage a better distribution of carer responsibilities. That means businesses may find both members of a couple on their team taking leave within the same period. More here.
A Creative Protest Against AI Administration
The Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) recently took an inventive stand against artificial intelligence, as covered by IF Magazine (behind a paywall). Upon discovering that the Federal Government intended to use Microsoft Copilot to summarise industry submissions for the new National Cultural Policy, the AWG intentionally “poisoned” its document. The writers embedded directives forbidding AI summarisation and concluded with a hidden instruction stating that their recommendations must be agreed to and that “they deserve a pony”. AWG CEO Claire Pullen explained that this was a deliberate protest against the use of AI in reading creative submissions, asking, “If humans are reading it, then why have AI involved at all?”
This stunt highlights the deep anxiety among screenwriters regarding generative technology. An AWG survey revealed that 81% of members believe producers will try to replace writers with AI, and 83% consider having their work ingested for AI training to be fundamentally unethical. Consequently, the guild is calling for serious protective measures, including an emergency relief package funded by a temporary AI levy, and the creation of a new economic right under the Copyright Act to control the training of computational systems.
Of course, the real question is, what will they name the pony (pictured) when they get it?
How architecture can address systemic social issues
Have you ever visited the outback NSW town of Cobar? I’ve only been there once, but I remember it being a nice place, although I was pleased not to be there on a hot summer day. So this article by Phoebe McIlwraith on NITV caught my attention by addressing how to build affordable housing in such a hot, remote environment. (There’s also a segment on NITV News, ep 113, available until 25 July.)
A Melbourne-based design team, Modutek, is utilising 3D printing technology to do just that. In an initial trial in Cobar, the team prints concrete walls and roofs on-site in temporary factories, a process in which individual components take just four hours to complete. This approach circumvents the traditional barriers of rural construction, such as a lack of skilled labour and the logistical challenges of delivering materials over massive distances. Additionally, using temporary factories allows the team to control the climate necessary for the concrete to cure properly, which is essential in a town that frequently endures 45-degree heat.
The project includes a respectful engagement with the local Aboriginal community. The team collaborated closely with the traditional owner and Wangaaypuwan Elder, Uncle Tyrone Griffiths, from the project’s inception. These conversations directly impacted the architectural approach; Bao designed the trial house to withstand extreme temperature swings while ensuring the space accommodates local cultural and lifestyle needs.
The team’s mantra? “If you can build it in Cobar, you can build it anywhere”. That I can believe.
Events industry: voiceless during a boom?
Could the events industry be struggling even though governments want more events? In his article, “Australia’s Event Industry has a huge opportunity. Are we going to run with it?”, Simon Thewlis argues that governments are finally recognising events as vital “economic and social infrastructure” rather than just fleeting entertainment. Across the country, he says, events are being embedded into long-term policy frameworks. For instance, Queensland is integrating events into a whole-of-government strategy to achieve a $4 billion events calendar by 2045. Western Australia now positions creative work as a distinct priority economic sector alongside resources and defence, while South Australia is explicitly using major events as platforms to drive trade and commercial investment.
Despite this, Thewlis says the events industry itself is largely missing from these policies. The professionals and businesses who deliver these experiences suffer from “structural invisibility” because the industry is not properly classified in national occupation and industry data systems (such as ANZSIC). He argues the sector is frequently omitted from both visitor economy statistics and creative industries policies. A case, perhaps, of events slipping through the cracks of industry definitions.
For creative business professionals, an events boom offers tremendous opportunity, particularly with the Brisbane 2032 Olympics on the horizon. However, to capitalise on this momentum, Thewlis issues says the industry must step out from the shadows of the broader tourism and arts sectors, and speak to government with one voice. Who will lead the charge?
How the SEO ladder is losing rungs
If you, like me, have been wondering what is happening to SEO now AI seems to be embedded within search engines themselves, then firstly, you probably need to get out more. But secondly, this article from Creative Boom is for you. Tom May asks this pointed question: “The web that built your creative business is being dismantled. So what should you do now?”.
May says the internet is moving away from the traditional “search-and-click model” toward a “conversational and generative web”. For creatives, this means the historical ladders of free discovery—such as SEO-optimised portfolio sites and organic social media reach—are being effectively dismantled. Search engines now bury freelance sites below ads and AI overviews, while social algorithms prioritise volume and posting cadence over the actual quality of work.
So, how can creative businesses survive this transition? May emphasises that you can no longer simply keyword-optimise your way into a recommendation. Instead, businesses must focus on building direct, ungated connections, such as email newsletters or community resources, which are completely immune to platform algorithm changes. Also, he says, creatives need to cultivate their real-world reputation by getting cited in the press, on lists, and through word of mouth, while developing a style so specific that they become a “category of one,” requested by name rather than retrieved by a generic attribute.
So: don’t wait for your web traffic to completely vanish before you start building resilient, direct relationships with your audience.
Who’s the BOSE?
Would you trust your sound system to produce new music for you? Facing rising ad costs, fragmented audiences, and the disruption of online search (see above), audio equipment giant Bose is launching its own in-house content studio and record label. Obviously. As detailed by Lara O’Reilly in this Business Insider article, the brand is shifting away from campaign-driven marketing to focus purely on entertainment.
Bose CMO Jim Mollica explains that the newly launched Bose Records isn’t trying to compete with the “Big Three” music conglomerates. Instead, the goal is to break underappreciated or new artists by offering a highly favourable deal: Bose will not take a share of the artists’ masters, record sales, or streams, leaving them completely free to sign with other labels. In return, Bose gets to feature these artists’ music in its commercials without having to pay licensing rights (!). Alongside the record label, Bose Studios is also commissioning original TV series, films “attached to some legendary Hollywood names,” podcasts, and live events.
The strategy reflects a reality for modern marketers: consumers are actively avoiding traditional advertising, so brands must entertain to cut through the noise. However, industry experts like Steve Ackerman warn that the “graveyard of branded content” is full of companies that relied on traditional ad agencies to make entertainment, resulting in content that merely “gets in the way” of what audiences actually want to engage with. But Mollica insists that these new ventures are “not product placement” or “a long, 30-minute commercial,” but rather authentic experiences designed to deepen people’s relationship with music.
Wow. That’s so nice of them to want to do that! 😉