The Australian Corporate Rip Off
The corporate rip-off is alive and well in Australia, as some of the country’s biggest companies show their true colours when it comes to taking average Aussies for fools.
We’ve all heard about the cost-of-living crisis. Of course we have, it’s become the coverall catchphrase used to justify why we’re paying more for less. But what about the corporate rip-off crisis we’ve been experiencing for decades?
Let’s talk about how Australian companies are shamelessly milking consumers like an overworked dairy cow. We can blame the pandemic or war in the Ukraine and Middle East – they are certainly salient factors – but these are faceless offenders. We should also point a finger at those we know are taking us for a ride.
The Big Offenders
The Aussie corporate rip-off spans the breadth of our national economy and primary decision-makers – airlines, banks, energy providers, grocery suppliers, health insurance providers and as always, the gambling industry. Our political representatives also have their role to play, but I’m losing light (the electricity bill is overdue) and my candle is waning. So, for brevity’s sake, let’s focus on our biggest corporate offenders.
Our national airline Qantas tops the list, showing utter disdain for its customers and staff, meanwhile gratuitously promoting itself as the spirit of Australia. If the spirit of Australia is to bend people over and violate them relentlessly, spit in their face then audaciously expect to be thanked for it, Qantas sets the standard.
Qantas’ reputation has taken an unceremonious nosedive in recent years following a spate of scandals and public relations blunders. From selling tickets on cancelled flights and illegally firing more than 1,800 staff during the pandemic, falling quality of service, and a string of industrial relations disputes stretching back years, Qantas continues to plummet in the world airline rankings.
Yet, almost miraculously, it hasn’t affected Qantas’ bottom-line, the company reporting a $1.6 billion profit in 2025. This is despite shelling out more than $… in compensation for their various misdoings. Budget carrier and Qantas subsidiary Jetstar has also been involved in controversies surrounding misleading refund policies and travel credits, leading to regulatory action and a major class action lawsuit filed in 2024.
The airline was fined $1.95 million by Australian regulators for false claims that fares were non-refundable. Additionally, ongoing issues include a 2025 class action alleging failure to provide cash refunds for COVID-era cancellations and a 2025 fine in New Zealand for misleading consumers about compensation rights.
Over in the banking sector, finance cowboys continue a well-lived tradition of overcharging and misleading their customers. ANZ hit the headlines this week after copping a $240 million dollar fine from the corporate watchdog ASIC for misconduct spanning years and affecting some 65,000 customers.
One of the Big Four Aussie banks, ANZ engaged in illegal and unethical behaviour, including charging fees to dead customers, customers left waiting two years for hardship assistance, engaging debt collectors, misleading customers about savings interest rates and failing to pay promised rates.
Banking industry experts suggest the misconduct stems from a culture of cost-cutting that is rampant in the lending sector, with significant reductions in the workforce and a shift to AI-assisted support systems. There are fewer branches, fewer tellers and fewer ATMs, making it more difficult to access your money, which isn’t really yours anyway.
But, like Qantas, ANZ isn’t crying poor. ANZ’s half-year financial results up to the end of March 2025 reveal a statutory profit of $3,642 million up 16% on the previous half. In 2024, ANZ reported an annual profit of $6,535 million. It’s not just ANZ either. Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s largest lender, topped $10 billion in profits. Million-dollar fines and compensation payouts constitute a drop in the bucket for these major institutions, the heads of which rest easy on seven-figure salaries while telling the rest of us to cut back on luxuries and be more frugal with our meagre earnings.
Everyday essentials are becomingly increasingly more expensive, putting more pressure on households to afford basics like power, fuel and groceries. Increasing energy costs rank as one of the primary financial concerns for households. Significant rises in power costs over the past two years have seen a rise of 40% for some households, with further increases expected before year’s end.
AGL and Origin, among other energy providers, have been accused of price gouging and manipulating the electricity market to justify rising prices. This misconduct comes again at the expense of Australian households and ratepayers who are struggling to afford basic amenities as it is. It also highlights the urgency to secure a clean and affordable source of energy that will allow for transition away from our reliance on fossil fuels and subpar green alternatives.
Among the price-gouging, market-manipulating elite sits the national grocery duopoly of Coles and Woolworths. The supermarket giants dominate our supply chain, holding a 29% and 38% percent market respectively as of 2025. Both have been accused of routinely price gouging, however a recently published by the competition watchdog ACCC was unable to conclude that either chain had participated in price gouging.
Both Coles and Woolworths have been taken to Federal Court for misleading promotional practices and discount claims, particularly the ‘Down Down’ and ‘Prices Dropped’ campaigns. It was alleged the supermarkets artificially raised the price of certain products by up to 15% and often the discounted prices were higher than the regular price.
The 2024 Fels Report into price gouging and unfair market tactics confirmed the suspicions of everyday of Australians that Coles and Woolworths are taking advantage of their market position, limiting competition in the sector.
A 2024 Four Corners interview with former Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci turned into a PR farce when he asked, on camera, for certain controversial remarks he made be removed from the edit. For that remarkable performance, Banducci earned himself early retirement with a multi-million dollar golden handshake from the Fresh Food People, courtesy of your overpriced weekly shop.
Coles and Woolworths enjoy further tax concessions through charitable donations by asking shoppers to round-up their total. Annual profits for Coles and Woolworths currently exceed $1 billion each, meaning they can easily afford to fund charitable programs without relying on shoppers for the offset.
Last but not least on our list of Aussie corporate rip-offs are a slew of health insurers, including NIB, Bupa and Medibank for artificial premium hikes. Australia’s three largest health insurers, they earned a combined profit of $1.7 billion in 2024 and earlier increased premiums above the average for many customers.
In April, health insurance premiums went up an average of 3.73%, but NIB, Medicare, and Bupa hit their customers with hikes well beyond that. NIB made $289 million last year and raised their premiums by 5.79%. Raking in $607 million last year, Bupa boosted its premiums by 5.10%, and Australia’s largest health insurance, with a 2024 profit of $785 million lifted premiums by 3.99%.
Australians should be no stranger to a scam – we’re a nation of convicts with a long history of criminal behaviour. We like to think we have a good nose for sniffing out when someone is selling us bullshit. But the nature of scamming has changed and cyberfraud is on the rise. It’s easier than ever to defraud someone of their identity and lifesavings, and last year Aussies lost $319 million to scams.
We’re instructed to be vigilant about fraudulent operators and guard our personal details from con artists, but what about losses incurred by legitimate corporations taking advantage of uncertain circumstances to pad their bottom line, award shameful executive bonuses, and appease the shareholders? There is an innate public trust in these sectors that has been betrayed by unscrupulous corporate malfeasance and personal greed, a trust that may never be repaired.
Rethink your packaging and transport solutions with MADCAP Global Commodities & Agri-Business.
