Australia's top firms have revealed next year's grad intake, and it's a mixed bag. Clayton Utz slashed hardest, down 11% to 64. Corrs followed close behind, while Mallesons bucked the trend, growing 4.26%. Ashurst and G+T held steady. See the full breakdown here: Point Blank

⚖️ Resources: Copper is having its moment. AEMO says data centres are becoming one of the biggest drivers of electricity demand growth, expected to triple to 7.8% of NEM consumption by FY2030, then 13% by FY2036. That growth relies heavily on copper, used in everything from power cables to the chips powering AI. Yet Australia still classifies copper as merely "strategic," not "critical," unlike the US and Canada. The IEA forecasts a 25% supply deficit by 2035, and major miners including BHP, Rio Tinto and Glencore are ramping up copper investment to meet the shortfall: Mallesons

⚖️ Employment: HSF Kramer's pulse survey of 65 senior IR and HR leaders finds most employers are unhappy with how enterprise bargaining works. 75% call the system overly technical and prescriptive, and just 9% say it strikes a fair balance between employers and employees. The intractable bargaining regime also isn't delivering — 74% don’t think it has reduced industrial action or sped up agreements, and 56% say the threat of arbitration is used more as a negotiating tactic than a genuine trigger. Reforms have mainly added process rather than better outcomes — 44% report spending more time in the Fair Work Commission, and 40% say productivity gains have suffered as a result: HSF Kramer

⚖️ Corporate: In Anteris Technologies Global Corp, Anteris Technologies' CFO forgot to lodge a cleansing notice after 44,068 CDIs were issued to two investors in July. That meant any on-sales within 12 months risked breaching disclosure obligations under s 707(3) of the Corporations Act. The CFO caught the error three weeks later, prompting a trading halt and an urgent application to the Federal Court. Wheatley J granted relief under s 1322, declaring the belated cleansing notice effective from the original issue date and relieving any on-sellers from civil liability. The Court found the CFO had acted honestly and that no substantial injustice would result: Federal Court of Australia

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke plans to cut net migration from 300k to 225k by 2028 using regulation, not legislation, after Coalition talks collapsed. The big change: international students keep their visas but lose the right to bring family members over. One Nation wants a much bigger cut of 750,000 visas, which Labor and the Coalition both say would tank the economy: ABC News

The Fed just hiked rates to a 3.75% to 4% range, its first rise since 2023, with Kevin Warsh flagging more to come despite Trump demanding 1% rates and slamming the board as "very hostile, very political". Meanwhile the IMF is telling the RBA to keep hiking too: Bloomberg

🤝 Reliance Worldwide has locked in a $4bn takeover from Brookfield, signing a scheme implementation deed at $4.75 a share cash, a 31.5% premium on its last close. Completion is pencilled in for Q1 2027: ASX

⚓ Austal's board is reportedly angling for an all-of-company bid as Hanwha and Wildcat Infrastructure slug it out over its US arm, with offers ranging from US$1.05bn to US$1.35bn: The Australian

📲 Swipejobs is courting fund managers ahead of a possible $2bn IPO, having just picked up Expert360 for $16m. The AI job-matching platform made $177m net revenue and $70m EBITDA in 2025: AFR