Sydney's Taronga Zoo is conducting a full review into "a significant incident" after five lions escaped their enclosure, sparking an emergency lockdown at the iconic tourist attraction.

Zoo executive director Simon Duffy said one adult lion and four cubs were spotted outside their main enclosure at 6:30am Wednesday - but did not get past the second 1.8-metre fence that separates them from the rest of the zoo.

"At no time did the lions exit that area or exit Taronga Zoo," he told reporters.

"Four of the lions calmly made their way back into their main exhibit and dens and one lion cub was safely tranquillised," he said.

There were no injuries and all the lions were back in their enclosure within minutes.

"They did breach the (first) containment fence. We don't have the exact details of how and why that occurred," Mr Duffy said.

"That is very much a focus of our incident response and the review that will be conducted now."

Zoo staff responded quickly enacting "very strict safety protocols" and "as a result, the situation was under control within minutes", he said.

CCTV footage revealed it was less than 10 minutes between the lions escaping their main exhibit and the emergency response being enacted.

The zoo immediately sounded a "code one" response - warning the emergency involved "a dangerous animal".

"This is a significant incident and a full review is now under way to confirm exactly how the lions were able to exit their main exhibit," Mr Duffy said.

Families sleeping overnight in tents for the zoo's popular "Roar and Snore" program were alerted to the emergency and quickly moved to safety zones.

The zoo, at Mosman on the city's north shore, is open as normal on Wednesday with busloads of school children arriving for excursions.

Opened in 1916, the harbourside zoo stretches over 28 hectares and is home to more than 2600 animals.

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The value of new home loans fell 8.2 per cent in September as interest rates rises start to bite.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the value of new loan commitments for housing fell to $25.1 billion in September after a 3.4 per cent fall in August.

The value of new owner-occupier loan commitments fell by 9.3 per cent in September, while the value of new investor loan commitments fell six per cent.

"Although housing lending has fallen for four consecutive months, the value of loan commitments in September remained well above pre-pandemic levels," the ABS's Katherine Keenan said.

"Owner-occupier loans in September were 23 per cent higher than in February 2020, while investor loans were 60 per cent higher."

The ABS also reported the total number of dwellings approved fell 5.8 per cent in September, following a 23.1 per cent increase in August.

The fall was largely driven by a drop in approvals for private sector houses, down 7.8 per cent.

Across Australia, total dwelling approvals fell in: South Australia (-19.7 per cent), Tasmania (-10.8 per cent), Western Australia (-9.3 per cent), New South Wales (-8.8 per cent), and Queensland (-6.2 per cent).

Victoria was the only state to record an increase, rising 3.4 per cent.

Approvals for private sector houses fell in all states: WA (-11.4 per cent), Queensland (-8.6 per cent), NSW (-7.9 per cent), Victoria (-4.7 per cent), and SA (-4.3 per cent).

The value of total building approvals fell 6.9 per cent in September, following a 19.5 per cent rise in August.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted interest rates by another 25 basis points, taking the official cash rate to 2.85 per cent.

The latest interest rate hike will add more than $114 to monthly repayments for a typical $750,000 mortgage.

Numbers crunched by Compare the Market found the cumulative 275 basis points in rate hikes since May will add about $1205 to the average 30-year $750,000 loan.

A Compare the Market survey found 50 per cent of Australians were worried they wouldn't be able to afford rising mortgage and rental payments in the next year.

Borrowers may suffer when interest rates rise but savers enjoy a boost to the interest rate on their savings accounts if banks pass on the hikes.

Elsewhere, manufacturing conditions have stayed flat for the third month in a row as worker and supply chain shortages continue to drag business activity down.

The Australian Industry Group performance of manufacturing index showed consumer-related manufacturers performed well in October, with food and beverage sectors buoyed by a lift in orders in the lead-up to the festive season.

But industry-related manufacturing, such as metal products, had a slow month, with uncertainty in the construction sector leading to a slowdown in orders.

"Australian manufacturing is in a holding pattern, with three straight months of flat results," AI Group chief executive Innes Willox said.

"Manufacturers are concerned that if economic conditions deteriorate - as this month's federal budget forecasts - they will be unable to maintain employment and production in the face of these pressures."

The index showed average wages falling slightly across the manufacturing sector for the month despite ongoing labour shortages.

However, wages have been trending above long-run averages for most of the year.

Input prices also remained above historical averages despite decelerating in October.

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Australian TV viewers will no longer hear the hastily uttered "gamble responsibly" tagline.

From March 2023, betting companies like Ladbrokes, Sportsbet and TAB must ditch the well-known slogan in favour of seven new and government-approved ones.

"Evidence and research clearly shows the 'gamble responsibly' message doesn't do the job of getting people to think and to minimise harm," Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth told ABC radio on Wednesday.

"So the new taglines, which were agreed with all state territories and the Commonwealth, are evidence-based and they actually have been shown to work."

The new mottos include "Chances are you're about to lose", "You win some. You lose more", "What's gambling really costing you?" and "What are you really gambling with?"

When on screen, they must accompany information about gambling addiction resources and appear in the largest font possible to take up a third of the on-screen space.

If the taglines are spoken, they have to be read slowly and calmly.

Online gambling firms must rotate through each of slogans over a 12-month period to stop viewers becoming acclimatised to a message.

While gambling critics welcome the changes, some want them to go further.

They're "welcome and a good start to the widespread reform urgently needed", according to Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie.

"Doing away with the 'gamble responsibly' message is appropriate because the problems in the online and sports betting industry are more about the predatory behaviour of that industry than the behaviour of gamblers.

"Of course there are many bigger reforms that remain unaddressed."

Mr Wilkie is calling for a ban on television gambling ads during G-rated viewing hours and the implementation daily limits on betting companies.

In NSW, parliamentary crossbenchers have pushed for a mandatory cashless gaming card to provide harm reduction benefits for problem gamblers and crackdown on money laundering.

A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found Australians lost around $25 billion on legal forms of gambling from 2018-2019, one of the biggest per capita losses in the world.

Beyond the financial costs, the report also revealed for every person who experienced problem gambling, up to six people around them were negatively affected.

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The seventh interest rate hike in a row will put more pressure on mortgage holders, with NAB the first of the big banks to pass on the 0.25 percentage point lift to its home loan customers.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted interest rates by another 25 basis points, taking the official cash rate to 2.85 per cent.

Provided lenders pass on the hike to borrowers, the latest interest rate hike will add more than $114 to monthly repayments for a typical $750,000 mortgage.

Numbers crunched by Compare the Market found the cumulative 275 basis points in rate hikes since May will add about $1205 to the average 30-year $750,000 loan.

"Unfortunately, there aren't many winners this Melbourne Cup Day with another whack to the household budget when we're already feeling the pinch," Compare the Market's Stephen Zeller said.

A survey by the comparison outfit found 50 per cent of Australians were worried they wouldn't be able to afford rising mortgage and rental payments in the next year.

Borrowers may suffer when interest rates rise but savers enjoy a boost to the interest rate on their savings accounts if banks pass on the hikes.

NAB has not yet announced higher rates for savers.

RateCity research director Sally Tindall said NAB was likely waiting to see what the other big banks would do.

"By keeping quiet on savings rates, NAB is strategically holding its cards close to its chest, waiting for the other three big banks to reveal their hands," she said.

"Let's hope the other three big banks come to the party for savers and pass on the full RBA hike."

Elsewhere, manufacturing conditions have stayed flat for the third month in a row as worker and supply chain shortages continue to drag business activity down.

The Australian Industry Group performance of manufacturing index showed consumer-related manufacturers performed well in October, with food and beverage sectors buoyed by a lift in orders in the lead-up to the festive season.

But industry-related manufacturing, such as metal products, had a slow month, with uncertainty in the construction sector leading to a slowdown in orders.

"Australian manufacturing is in a holding pattern, with three straight months of flat results," AI Group chief executive Innes Willox said.

"Manufacturers are concerned that if economic conditions deteriorate - as this month's federal budget forecasts - they will be unable to maintain employment and production in the face of these pressures."

In the October budget, Treasury downgraded its economic growth forecasts from the budget before, with gross domestic product tipped to fall to 1.5 per cent in 2023/24 before starting to recover.

The index showed average wages falling slightly across the manufacturing sector for the month despite ongoing labour shortages.

However, wages have been trending above long-run averages for most of the year.

Input prices also remained above historical averages despite decelerating in October.

"Manufacturers' selling prices increased but at a slower pace as fewer businesses passed through higher input costs," the report said.

© AAP 2022