COVID AND HOW WORK CHANGED
What is the name for a work week split between the office and home — some days in each?
Hybrid Work
What deadly disease swept through England in 1348 and killed a huge share of the population?
The Black Death (the plague)
A worker is paid $25 for every hour they work. What kind of income is that?
Wages
What word describes a person who buys goods or services?
A consumer.
What tax of 10% is added to most things you buy in Australia?
The GST (Goods and Services Tax).
What kind of meeting became normal in 2020 because people could not be in the same room?
Online video meetings
So many workers had died that the ones left alive started asking for something. What were they asking for?
Higher pay (better wages), because there were not enough workers to go around.
Another worker is paid $70,000 a year, split into equal payments, no matter how many hours they do that week. What is that called?
A salary
You buy headphones and they stop working in a week. Do you have the right to ask for a refund, replacement or repair?
Yes. Consumer guarantees give you that right, and you go back to the shop that sold them.
Name two things your taxes pay for.
Any two of: public schools, hospitals and Medicare, roads, police and fire services, the army, pensions, payments for people who are unemployed or have a disability.
During lockdowns the government paid many businesses money so they could keep paying their staff. What was this payment called?
JobKeeper
The Statute of Labourers of 1351 set a rule about wages. Did it set the highest amount a worker could be paid, or the lowest?
The highest — it was a maximum. It banned bosses from paying more, and banned workers from asking for more.
What word describes someone who works for themselves and runs their own small business, like a plumber or a hairdresser who owns the shop?
Self-employed
A shop puts up a sign saying "No refunds ever." Is that allowed?
No. It is against the law, because a shop cannot cancel your consumer rights with a sign.
How much can an Australian earn in a year before they start paying income tax at all?
this is the tax-free threshold.
Name one type of business that lost a lot of work during lockdowns, and one type that got busier.
Lost Work: Cafes, hotels, airlines, cinemas
Got work: online shopping, food and parcel delivery, hospitals
Today in Australia, the law does the opposite. What do we call the lowest amount an adult worker can legally be paid?
The minimum wage. From July 2026 it is $26.44 an hour.
Bosses must put extra money into a special fund for their workers to use when they retire. What is that fund called?
Superannuation (super). Employers must pay 12% of a worker's pay into it.
Name 2 consumer guarantees
They must be of acceptable quality, they must be safe, they must work, they must match how they were described, they must be fit for purpose,
Which tax brings in the most money for the Australian Government?
Income tax — the tax taken out of people's pay. It provides about half of all the money the government collects.
During lockdowns, some people could not work from home because their jobs had to be done in person. What were they called and give an example
Essential works - nurses, doctors, supermarket staff, delivery drivers, cleaners, police
Give one thing a worker in 1351 was not allowed to do that an Australian worker can do today.
Any one of: leave their village to work somewhere else for better pay; quit and change jobs; ask for a pay rise; join with other workers to bargain for better pay. In 1351 these could get you fined, jailed or branded.
Name one thing an employee gets that a self-employed person has to sort out themselves.
Any one of: paid holidays; paid sick days; super paid by a boss; tax taken out of their pay automatically; a guaranteed amount of pay each week. Self-employed people must arrange all of this themselves, and their income goes up and down with the business.
Your $900 phone stops turning on and cannot be fixed. Who gets to choose between a refund and a new phone — you or the shop?
You do. When the problem is major (the item cannot be fixed, or is unsafe, or is nothing like what was described) the customer chooses a refund or a replacement. If the problem is small, the shop can choose to repair it first.
Australia's income tax is "progressive." What does that mean?
The more you earn, the higher the tax rate on your extra income. Someone on a small wage pays a small share of it in tax, while someone on a very high wage pays up to 45% on the top part of their income. The idea is that people who can afford more, pay more.