Table of contents for December 2025 – January 2026 in CHOICE

Summer is awesome, we all know this. Me? I’m a big summer guy. The clocks change, the temps increase, the days stretch and I start thinking about beach trips, Christmas holidays, diving into my swimming pool and getting the barbecue fired up. But this time it feels like summer is tinged with a mild anxiety. In short, I’m living in fear of my mortal enemy: The Sun. Because despite being a pale Scotsman, I’ve always been fairly lackadaisical about the impacts of UV rays. This has resulted in me getting regularly sunburnt in ways that scale from the hilarious to genuinely alarming. Yes, you should continue to buy the sunscreens that are currently on the shelves But now things have changed. Now I’m thinking a little bit more about how…

It hasn’t been a good look for Australia’s second-largest telco. In the Optus outage of 28 September 2025, nine triple-0 calls reportedly failed to get through, and three people reportedly died after failing to connect to triple-0 during a bigger Optus outage that occurred ten days earlier. In 2023, a nationwide Optus outage left around 10 million people without service and 2000 calls to triple-0 unanswered. In October 2025, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) called on the federal government to make a reliable triple-0 system a condition of Optus’s licence to operate. Later that month, the Australian Communications and Media Authority approved the registration of new rules to strengthen Australia’s triple-0 ecosystem. The new Emergency Calling – Network and Mobile Phone Testing Industry Code requires telcos to provide…

In CHOICE Oct 25, we included a nationwide guide to comprehensive third-party car insurance, but it was missing one essential element – the section on Western Australia. We sincerely apologise to our Western Australian readers – thank you for bringing the mistake to our attention. CTP insurance in WA is called Motor Injury Insurance and is operated by the Insurance Commission of Western Australia. Here, CTP insurance is fault-based – you’ll only be covered if you weren’t negligent and are not at fault. WHAT’S COVERED? If you are injured in an accident and you’re not at fault, you are covered for: • compensation for pain and suffering (and other general damages) • loss of wages • claims management expenses • care and support, such as medical treatment and rehabilitation. If you…

Q I’m looking for quotes for my home and content insurance. I notice that most insurers automatically include flood cover. But in our area we don’t need it, so I’m thinking premiums should be a lot cheaper. However, I can only find one major insurer who doesn’t automatically include flood cover. What’s your advice? A CHOICE home insurance expert Dan Graham: Insurers will tend to say that if there is no risk of flood inyour area, then having the cover won’t add anything to your premium anyway. It’s difficult to tell if this is true or not. There are a few insurers that offer flood cover as optional: Budget Direct, Coles, ING, Ozicare and Qantas. You could visit their websites for an online quote, and check if there’s a price…

Join the conversation online. We’re on Facebook, Threads, Instagram and our own forum, CHOICE Community. This month: AI, pizza, ice cream and coffee. Community choice.community Artificial intelligence (AI) – is it reliable or is it hype? @jezz: My friends and I have used AI to assist in generating itineraries for travel. It is helpful, but it is also necessary to check the answer with other sources. For instance, AI recommended that I stay in a town in Norway which has only one hotel with bad reviews. Another town a few kilometres further away had a much better option. @Jeff: Quite a few people are confused and wary of AI and its influence on the outcome of searches … by adding “-ai” after the search string, Google won’t use AI and…

Home battery storage is a hot topic for energy-conscious consumers, and with the recent launch of the federal government’s $2.3 billion rebate scheme, interest has gotten even more intense. Officially known as the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, the new incentive offers around 30% off the total cost of installing a battery in eligible homes and small businesses. With a flood of rebate-related promotions hitting the market (and the inevitable risk of dodgy installers), it’s even more vital to understand battery costs, your power needs and how long a battery can take to pay for itself. How home batteries work A home battery stores any unused power generated from solar panels during the day for later use at night and on low-sunlight days. Battery capacity is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh), which…

If you’re keen to make cold brew at home without forking out big bucks for an appliance, all you need are two lidded jars or jugs and a coffee filter. 1. GRIND THE BEANS Grind your beans on the coarse setting, or ask the roaster or cafe to grind it for cold brew – they’ll know what to do. Coffee that’s ground too finely can leave sediment in your coffee, which will create a muddy, bitter drink. Lack of sediment is one of the defining characteristics of cold brew and is what gives it that lovely light mouthfeel. If you only have access to pre-ground beans, don’t despair: it’ll still work, but you may need to play around with timing and brew it for less time. The smaller the grind,…

With summer here, you might be thinking about ditching the pedestal fan and getting serious about cooling. If you own your own home and can afford the upfront installation costs, reverse-cycle air conditioning is the most effective and efficient way to cool your home in summer and heat your home in winter. But if you rent, don’t have the budget for an expensive built-in air-conditioning system, or simply want the flexibility of moving your air con between rooms, a portable air conditioner can be a good option. CHOICE experts regularly review portable air conditioners, assessing key factors such as cooling performance, running costs and noise levels. We’ve found some impressive performers (both cheap and expensive), but also some disappointing duds – sometimes from the same manufacturers, so it’s important to check…

CHOICE, 57 Carrington Road, Marrickville, NSW, 2204 Email ausconsumer@choice.com.au Customer Service 1800 069 552 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm AEST or AEDT) ADD WEBSITE ACCESS To browse all our test reports and reviews, when and as often as you like, contact Customer Service to add website access to your membership package. KNOW YOUR CONSUMER RIGHTS Got a problem with a product or a service? Learn about your rights at choice.com.au/consumer-rights. If you need further guidance, email ausconsumer@choice.com.au. VOICE YOUR CHOICE Get involved in our research through surveys and focus groups, and have your say on what’s important to Australian consumers. This research feeds directly into our future content and campaigning work. Visit choice.com.au/voiceyourchoice. View the CHOICE Privacy Policy: choice.com.au/privacy-policy.…

The federal government has put forward a proposal to make it illegal for big supermarkets to charge too much for groceries. The Treasury last month finished consulting on draft legislation that would hit large retailers with penalties for supplying products at “excessive prices”. The government says a price could be deemed excessive if it was significantly and persistently above what a large retailer would be able to charge if it was faced with workable competition in the relevant grocery product market. The plan comes after the ACCC last year conducted an inquiry into Australia’s supermarket sector and found it to be dominated by Coles and Woolworths, with significant barriers to competitors entering and expanding on a large scale. The commission noted Coles and Woolworths were among the most profitable supermarket…

An initiative to protect Australians from SMS impersonation scams has been delayed and is now expected to come into effect in July 2026. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) hadpreviously announced the SMS Sender ID Register would be up and running by December 2025. Advocacy group the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network says the delay gives regulators and businesses the extra time they need to make sure the register is implemented properly. A sender ID is the name that can appear at the top of a text message thread to tell you who it’s from. Companies and government agencies often use them when communicating with consumers, but scammers have been able to use technology to send malicious messages under the same IDs. Under the register initiative, organisations wanting to keep…

The federal government has released the final version of its proposal to require certain businesses to accept cash payments. While the original proposal from December 2024 included a broad range of products and services, the government’s new policy would, if enacted, only apply to supermarkets and petrol stations. There are millions of Australians who rely on cash. Some of them rely on it every day, others only when something goes wrong. But the government’s new proposal has been heavily watered down, meaning Australians won’t be guaranteed the legal right to pay cash for medicine, medical supplies, utilities, mobile phones, public transport, clothing, shoes, school expenses or childcare. We consider all these things to beessential – apparently the government does not. In regional and remote First Nations communities, where internet and…

Amazon has been fined a record $US2.5 billion ($3.8 billion) in the United States for signing up millions of consumers to Prime subscriptions without their consent and making it difficult for them to cancel the service. As well as being ordered to cease the deceptive practices, Amazon will pay $1 billion in fines, and $1.5 billion in refunds to affected consumers. “The evidence showed that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling in Prime and then made it exceedingly hard for consumers to end their subscription. Today, we are putting billions of dollars back into Americans’ pockets, and making sure Amazon never does this again,” says US Federal Trade Commission chairman Andrew N Ferguson.…

Vanilla ice cream is a classic treat and a staple in the freezers of many. Loved for its smooth, creamy flavour, it can be enjoyed on its own or as an accompaniment to many desserts. But with so many ice cream brands and styles now on offer at the supermarket, how do you know which product to choose? It’s no longer as simple as deciding between vanilla or chocolate. For starters, what’s the difference between ice cream and gelato? Why do some ice creams contain additives? Is there a taste trade-off when choosing diet ice cream? To help answer these questions and more, we reviewed and taste-tested vanilla ice creams available in Australian supermarkets. We included products labelled as vanilla ice cream, or those that presented themselves as vanilla ice cream…

Launched in July 2025, the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program gives homeowners, small businesses and community groups an upfront discount of around 30% on the purchase and installation of a home battery system that pairs with solar panels. The rebate is based on the battery’s usable capacity, up to 50kWh, with a maximum saving of $372 per usable kWh. Once you deduct admin charges, it’s more like $330 per usable kWh, so a typical 10kWh battery would see a handy $3300 discount applied to your quote upfront. Just like the solar panel rebate, the rebate decreases every year and is currently set to end in 2030. To be eligible for the rebate, the battery must: ● be installed on or after 1 July 2025 ● have a nominal battery…

If you’re planning on doing your fair share of entertaining over the Christmas period and summer holidays, then you’ll need to make sure your fridge (or fridges) are up to the task. After all, it’s no good having mountains of cold cuts, platters of freshly sliced fruit and slabs of drinks if you can’t keep them nicely chilled for your guests. If your main fridge is struggling to keep up with the extra load, the frequent door openings and the increased temperatures of the summer holidays, it might be time to think about replacing it. But if you’re happy with your fridge and just looking for something a little extra, maybe to keep drinks cold out near the barbecue, or in the downstairs rec room, you might be considering adding a…

If you’re a cricket fan, nothing says Christmas holidays quite like flopping down on the couch with the air con cranking and the Boxing Day test on the TV. But if your old TV is close to retiring, you might be on the lookout for a new model that will do justice to your favourite sport. This summer, whether you’re watching the Sydney to Hobart race or a ballgame like cricket, tennis or basketball, choosing a TV that performs well when it comes to sport will make sure you get the most out of the season. But how do you know which models are MVPs and which should be left on the bench? By checking CHOICE reviews, obviously. Televised sports display very differently to TV shows and movies, so our…

Accuracy: Our journalists use sources from trusted institutions with a reputation for careful and unbiased research. Our verifiers and subject matter experts check articles and reviews before publication, to make sure facts and quotes are accurate and data has been interpreted correctly. Corrections: If we’ve made an error in CHOICE magazine, we include the correction in the next available issue (usually in the Checkout section of the magazine). If you think we’ve got something wrong, please visit choice.com.au/contactus. Reviews and testing: Our testers put products through their paces in our own NATA-accredited laboratories. We use test methods based on Australian standards and develop our own to match the way consumers use a product in their homes. We buy most products we test, maintaining our independence from manufacturers and so we know what…

In a groundbreaking October court judgement, Australian February 2022 that resulted in the personal medical information of 223,000 people potentially falling into the hands of scammers. It was the first time a business had paid a penalty in a privacy violation case brought by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), which oversees the Act. Most of the penalty ($4.2 million) was for failing to protect the data in the first place. The breach was a major cybercrime incident, yet ACL dragged its heels – first by failing to investigate whether a data breach had occurred and then by taking too long to inform the OAIC once the business knew its systems had been infiltrated. “This outcome represents an important turning point in the enforcement of privacy law in…

Drivers in Victoria can now compare fuel prices atdifferent service stations in real time after the state became the last in Australia to introduce a compulsory price reporting and comparison scheme. The going rates of different types of fuel at more than 1200 outlets across the state are now visible via the Servo Saver feature on the Service Victoria app. Retailers are required by law to update their prices on the platform, which Consumer Affairs Victoria says could save drivers in Melbourne alone hundreds of dollars a year. Businesses will still have to display prices on roadside boards. The state’s scheme was first announced earlier this year and has been operating since October. Prior to this, fuel price reporting in Victoria was voluntary and local information shared on third-party comparison…

Would you everbuy something without knowing the price? It goes against everything we’re told to do as smart consumers, but if you’ve ever bought a drink at a bar, chances are you’ve been buying blind. Step into any pub and you’d have a hard time knowing the going rate of the tap beers, house wines or mixed drinks on offer until one’s been poured and it’s time to pay. This isn’t a problem if you’re frequenting the same establishments and settling for the same drinks each time, but venture beyond your local, or take a risk on a new beverage, and you’ll probably find yourself raising an eyebrow at the price. A few months ago, a CHOICE member got in touch to vent about the seeming reluctance of pubs to…

Despite decades of advice urging us to slip, slop, slap, seek and slide, too many Australians still think that a dab of sunscreen and maybe a hat is all they need if they’re heading out for a day at the beach. Unfortunately, this simply isn’t the case, and our high rates of skin cancer are proof that we still aren’t getting the message about how harmful the sun can be. Sally Blane, chair of Cancer Council’s Skin Cancer Committee, says we need to use all five forms of sun protection whenever the UV is 3 or above. “Sunscreen is essential, but it is just one part of sun protection,” says Blane. “Start with covering as much skin as practical with clothing that blocks the UV, then combine with broad-spectrum, water-resistant, SPF50 or…

Have you ever found yourself standing at a baggage carousel, watching as all the other passengers claim their luggage and set off on the next part of their journey, all the while growing more anxious as your bag fails to appear? If you have, you’ll know the sinking feeling that accompanies the realisation that your bags won’t be joining you on your trip. While it won’t make your luggage magically appear, knowing what you should do if this happens to you can help you feel prepared for the worst. Basic policies won’t generally cover baggage at all Before you go If the thought of losing your luggage makes you break out in a cold sweat, but travel insurance gives you some peace of mind, consider this: basic policies won’t generally cover…

Move over iced coffee. Cold brew coffee is fast becoming a popular way to get your caffeine fix during the warmer months. Known for its smooth, low-acidity taste profile, cold brew coffee is increasingly turning up on the menu at your local cafe. We’re now seeing some home espresso machines spruiking cold brew settings, with claims they can bring cafe-quality cold brew into the comfort of your own home at the touch of a button. But can a domestic appliance deliver a cafe-quality cold brew? We don’t assess the cold brew settings in our espresso machine testing, but looked at some machines that offer this feature, and asked our experts if they live up to the hype. What is cold brew coffee? Cold brew coffee isn’t just a regular coffee shot…

With great holiday feasts inevitably comes the great quantities of leftovers. While having a good fridge is a good start, if you want your leftovers to last the distance (and not make you sick), you need to make sure you’re storing them correctly. Here’s a handy guide for some of the leftovers you might have. COOKED CHICKEN Chicken leftovers can last three to four days in the fridge in an airtight container, or up to six months in the freezer. And yes, if it was frozen before you cooked it, you can freeze it again once it’s cooked. Whether frozen or just refrigerated, make sure you heat leftover chicken to 70 degrees or higher to kill off any bacteria, and never reheat it more than once. HAM How long your…

Our long-serving rogues’ gallery of dodgy ads, toe-curling typos and misadventures in marketing, as sent in by you – our tickled, angered and bewildered readers. And thanks to the timeless shonkiness of so much advertising, you’re always spoilt for choice – so keep ’em coming. Email high-quality unedited photos to hardword@choice.com.au. This month, thanks go to Gary Billingham (Navel gazing), Herma Buttner (Serrano-no), Cheryl Ferrington (Lost in transit) and Don Tadixz (Nought on offer). NOUGHT ON OFFER The clock can tick all it wants, we see no rush. NAVEL GAZING Surely makes for an interesting pasta dish. SERRANO-NO If it’s made the Italian way, wouldn’t it be prosciutto? LOST IN TRANSIT See a part of India you’ve never seen before.…