Qantas says it will release an overhauled version of its smartphone app towards year-end that will give customers more control of their booking and introduce baggage tracking during passengers' journeys.

The new app will also better integrate the Qantas loyalty points program, the airline said during an investor briefing on Tuesday.

It will also better communicate during disruptions, and offer enhancements, including fast check-in.

Qantas also plans to overhaul its boarding process to better recognise travellers with higher tiers in its frequent flyer program, and expand the range of redemption options for that program.

The company said it would offer "points burn" opportunities with major retailers, as well as diversification into financial services.

Qantas also said it would grow by creating up to 8500 new operational roles in Australia by 2033 to support new aircraft and additional flying.

The airline said it viewed its Dreamliner Boeing 787-9s as a "transformative aircraft for long-haul operations", making previously unprofitable routes profitable.

Qantas took delivery of its 12th Dreamliner, the Billabong, this month and will receive two more in the coming weeks after supply-chain issues delayed their delivery for two years during the pandemic.

The company said the Dreamliners were providing improved earnings on three long-haul routes it launched last year - Perth-Rome, Melbourne-Dallas and Sydney-Johannesburg - as well as the Auckland-New York route it will begin flying next month.

The investor briefing said this was a repeatable strategy that could be used to open other opportunities, such as flying to Paris, Chicago and Seattle.

"This is a structurally different business than it was before COVID, operating in markets that have also changed," CEO Alan Joyce said.

"We're very well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that creates, and the detail we've released today shows our strategy to do it."

© AAP 2023

The AFL Tribunal is set for a star-studded two-day trial-athon as five players attempt to overturn one-match bans.

Sydney co-captain Luke Parker, Carlton's Adam Cerra, Fremantle's Jaeger O'Meara and Adelaide midfielder Rory Laird will all challenge their one-match suspensions for dangerous tackles.

Brisbane veteran Dayne Zorko will challenge his one-match ban for making contact to the eye region of Crows forward Luke Pedlar.

Parker, Cerra and Laird will front the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday evening, with O'Meara and Zorko to face the music the following day.

The outcomes will be closely monitored by coaches, players and fans.

Geelong coach Chris Scott believes players are being asked to do the impossible after "confusing" tribunal instructions around dangerous tackles.

But the two-time premiership coach says players have "no choice but to get with the program" as the league continues its crackdown with a view to protecting players against concussion.

A total of 16 players have been suspended for dangerous tackles across the opening 10 rounds, and that number will rise to 20 by Wednesday evening if Parker, Cerra, O'Meara and Laird are unsuccessful with their appeals.

"The AFL, by their own admission, are trying to work their way through this," Scott told Fox Footy.

"They understand that they're going to iterate around these incidents and get it to a point where there is more clarity."

Scott likened the crackdown on dangerous tackles to the AFL's efforts to stamp out high contact in bumps

He said coaches' instructions to players are simple: they must be careful if they take a player to ground

But Scott said the directive from the AFL is less clear.

"The instruction from the tribunal, to be frank, is very confusing," he said.

"They're trying to say, 'If you tackle a player in a split second and you realise that you have an arm pinned, you've got to let it go before he hits the ground irrespective of whose momentum's taking the player forward'.

"Players can't do that."

Scott was adamant Geelong forward Brad Close could not have done anything differently when he was suspended over a dangerous tackle on Adelaide's Jordan Dawson early this month.

"The tribunal and the AFL have spoken and said you are liable for that, so you've got no choice but to get with the program," Scott said.

"And there's no point people that played footy in the good old days saying it's damaging the fabric of the game.

"The priority is looking after the head, so you've got to move with the program.

"I suspect when we get to the end of all this, people will look at those tackles and say, 'Yeah, of course he's got to go'."

Scott says some players will be "very unlucky" as they adjust to the crackdown.

"There are those situations where you tackle a player who's on one leg trying to kick the ball and he's completely vulnerable and it doesn't take much force to take him down.

"We're going to see some missed tackles and we're going to see players adjusting.

"If that's the way it's got to be, then it's probably fine."

© AAP 2023

More women are working full-time than ever before as the ultra-competitive labour market draws more female workers into the 38-hour week.

New analysis of official labour market data found women's total employment is up 193,400 since May 2022, with most taking on full-time rather than part-time gigs.

About 4300 women have taken part-time jobs since May 2022, whereas 189,100 have entered full-time employment.

The federal government analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data found this was a consistent trend across both genders, with full-time positions making up 85 per cent of total jobs growth.

However, women were responsible for the bulk of the increase in full-time employment.

Employment Minister Tony Burke said the government was supporting women in the workforce in several ways, including backing and funding a major pay rise for the highly feminised aged care sector.

"We want every Australian woman to be able to work and earn to their full potential," Mr Burke said.

The federal government has also confirmed up to $500 in energy bill relief for hundreds of thousands of seniors with concession cards.

The cohort of more than 490,000 Commonwealth seniors health card holders will be eligible for power bill support as per the government's promise to take the sting out of sky-high energy prices.

Facing extreme energy price hikes late last year, the federal government implemented a price cap on coal and gas and promised direct bill relief for lower-income households.

© AAP 2023

High prices in the shops and aggressive interest rate hikes have pushed consumer confidence to its lowest monthly level in more than three decades.

The weekly measure of consumer confidence from ANZ and Roy Morgan has been stuck at low levels, and in May returned its worst calendar month average since December 1990.

The weekly index dropped 1.1 points to 76.2, led by a 4.3-point decline in "current financial conditions''.

While the weekly reading was still not as low as when the pandemic lockdowns took hold in early 2020, it was still the fifth worst result since that period and the 13th week in a row below 80 points.

ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said cost-of-living pressures continued to weigh on households.

"Those paying off their homes still have far lower average confidence than renters and outright owners, despite housing prices lifting since mid-February," she said.

Despite the pessimism, most workers who want jobs are employed and getting the hours they want.

More women than ever are working full-time, according to new analysis of official labour market data.

The research found women's total employment was up 193,400 since May 2022, with most taking on full-time rather than part-time gigs.

About 4300 women have taken part-time jobs since May 2022, whereas 189,100 have entered full-time employment.

The federal government analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data found this was a consistent trend across both genders, with full-time positions making up 85 per cent of total jobs growth.

However, women were responsible for most of the increase in full-time employment.

Employment Minister Tony Burke said the government was supporting women in the workforce in several ways, including backing and funding a major pay rise for the highly feminised aged-care sector.

"We want every Australian woman to be able to work and earn to their full potential," Mr Burke said.

© AAP 2023