Insights

Listed health insurer NIB says almost 40,000 people have used its controversial website that rates and compares health professionals such as dentists, optometrists and chiropractors. The site, called Whitecoat, was launched several weeks ago after previous plans were shouted down by industry bodies.

Vizard sponsors youth scribe prize

Rebel Sport is opening small-format stores in high-street locations as part of a strategy to lift sales to more than $1 billion.

National Australia Bank will train all its tellers to provide "lite" financial advice as it moves to shrink the size of its branches by about 25 per cent and embrace digital technology.

Westpac wants to topple National Australia Bank as the country's biggest lender to business, as competition heats up for corporate and small to medium enterprise customers.

With our neophyte Prime Minister and his Treasurer struggling to find their feet - and a direction to travel in - let's hope they've been watching the ABC's interviews with Paul Keating. If not, they're out on DVD this week.

Science fiction becomes an everyday reality, writes Christopher Niesche.

Weasel words, spin words or wank words. Whatever you call them, they irritate the hell out of us.

The jobs picture in the United States brightened in November as hiring was stronger than expected and the unemployment rate fell to a five-year low, data that increases the likelihood of the Federal Reserve easing its stimulus efforts sooner rather than later.

Commerce ministers have capped days of hard negotiations by approving a commercial deal that the World Trade Organisation hailed as a historic boost for the trade body and the world economy.

Attacks on SMSFs and their trustees are continuing unabated. The negativity has switched from people in the funds management industry with a vested interest to a foreign expert.

Leighton Holdings' John Holland Aviation Services may be put up for sale or closed as the loss-making division reels from the loss of three big contracts.

Australia's chicken industry has been plagued by scandals in recent years, from evidence of illegal and sometimes dangerous conditions for processing workers to misleading claims about how birds are raised.

Listed health insurer NIB says almost 40,000 people have used its controversial website that rates and compares health professionals such as dentists, optometrists and chiropractors. The site, called Whitecoat, was launched several weeks ago after previous plans were shouted down by industry bodies. Critics included the powerful Australian Medical Association - although the site does not cover general practitioners and medical specialists - and the Australian Dental Association.

Corporate joker Steve Vizard is continuing his rehabilitation with a little alms giving. His philanthropic vehicle, Vizard Foundation, is sponsoring one of the Melbourne Press Club's Quill Awards - the Student Journalist of the Year award to be exact - with a $3000 cash prize.

Rebel Sport is opening small-format stores in high-street locations as part of a strategy to lift sales to more than $1 billion.