News Brief: Automatic Tipping in Australian Hospitality
Summary
Some Australian restaurants are adding automatic service charges to bills, a practice experts link to rising operational costs. While legal with proper disclosure, it faces customer backlash and highlights the nation’s evolving, yet hesitant, tipping culture.
Key Points
- Rising Costs Drive Change: Automatic tips (pre-set charges) are seen as a response to the hospitality sector’s cost-of-doing-business crisis.
- Legal but Contentious: Australian consumer law permits automatic tipping if customers are informed and can opt out. One Sydney venue scrapped its 10% charge after public criticism.
- Cultural Divide: The practice is more common in tourist areas where international visitors are accustomed to it, contrasting with Australia’s traditional minimum-wage-based anti-tipping sentiment.
- Customer Concerns: Critics argue it removes diners’ control over rewarding service and raises questions about how much of the tip actually reaches staff.
- Tipping Trends: Overall tipping is increasing in Australia. Victorians are the most generous, while Western Australians and NSW residents tip the least on average.
新闻简报：澳大利亚餐饮业出现自动小费
摘要
由于运营成本上升，澳大利亚一些餐厅开始在账单中自动添加服务费。尽管在充分告知且顾客可选择不付的情况下此举合法，但仍引发顾客不满，凸显了该国小费文化缓慢而矛盾的演变。
关键点
- 成本上涨推动变革：自动小费（预设服务费）被视为餐饮业应对经营成本危机的一种方式。
- 合法但存在争议：根据澳大利亚消费者法律，只要事先告知顾客且其可选择不支付，自动小费是允许的。悉尼一家酒吧因公众反对已取消了10%的自动收费。
- 文化差异：该做法在国际游客较多的区域更常见，这与澳大利亚基于最低工资、不依赖小费的传统观念形成对比。
- 顾客担忧：批评者认为这剥夺了食客奖励服务的自主权，且小费有多少能真正分到员工手中存疑。
- 小费趋势：澳大利亚整体小费支付额在增长。维多利亚州居民最慷慨，西澳大利亚州和新南威尔士州的居民平均支付额最低。
Original Article Link: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-21/automatic-tipping-on-the-rise-amid-cost-of-business-crisis/106167380