Sarah Orr
Sarah Orr connects economic news and market changes with the pressures felt in household budgets, translating complex rate decisions, price shifts and insurance trends into clear, practical stories. She writes news and analysis pieces for Compare the Market, focusing on improving financial literacy and helping people make informed choices with their money. Her recent work spans interest rates and borrowing capacity, energy bills, insurance premiums and broader cost-of-living issues, often using Compare the Market’s own data to show dollar impacts.
‘Pain on pause’ and the real impact of rate moves
Her coverage of central bank decisions focuses on what each move means for borrowers experiencing mortgage stress or relief. She has reported on rate increases that reverse previous relief and “really hurt” borrowers, framing stories around the erosion of earlier gains.
She has also covered cuts described as “relief at long last”, quantifying how much extra cash a borrower with an average loan receives per month when rates fall. In work on borrowing capacity, she models how a series of 0.25 percentage point rises can strip tens of thousands of dollars from a couple’s borrowing power, turning abstract percentage changes into concrete loss of purchasing ability.
When the cash rate is left unchanged, she explains how borrowers dodge additional pain while still living with elevated repayments, drawing on major bank forecasts to examine when relief or further tightening is expected.
‘Supply charge up 40%?’: energy prices on the household budget
She routinely uses electricity market changes to illustrate broader cost-of-living pressure. In analysis of supply charges rising around 40%, she breaks down how new daily fees translate into higher annual bills when retailers adjust market rates on 1 July. She sets those increases alongside comparison tables that show cents-per-day movements and percentage changes across retailers, helping readers see how small shifts in fixed charges accumulate. At the same time, she has covered the first fall in electricity pricing in six years as a “big win” for consumers, placing downward movements in the context of years of previous increases. Across these stories, the focus stays on what households pay and how changes in regulated and market rates either intensify or ease pressure on the budget.
Insurance costs from health cover to home quotes
Insurance costs are another recurring focus, spanning health, home and travel cover. Her reporting on health insurance premium changes explores how certain policy shifts can add hundreds of dollars to what families pay for cover over a year.
She has highlighted research showing home and contents quotes rising more than $300 year-on-year across major capital cities, using figures on average premiums and percentage increases to show how construction costs, labour and large claims feed into final prices. In travel insurance, she reviews coverage on natural disaster risks overseas, warning that travellers need more than standard protection as heatwaves and other events escalate.
She also oversees or reviews pieces on people cutting back on health appointments due to costs, reinforcing a consistent interest in how insurance design and pricing affect access to care and financial security.
Using Compare the Market data to explain cost-of-living shifts
Across beats, her stories are built on Compare the Market’s internal research and scenario modelling.
She frequently presents tables that compare year-on-year changes in energy supply charges, insurance premiums or other costs, showing both percentage and dollar differences. In mortgage and borrowing power coverage, she uses hypothetical households to calculate how much more they pay or how much less they can borrow after specific rate changes. She is also quoted as a spokesperson in work on fuel price spikes and travel risks, linking written analysis with media commentary that frames tax changes, international events and market movements through their impact on everyday expenses.
Her consistent through-line is clear, numerate storytelling that helps people understand how shifting rates, prices and premiums affect their wallets and the choices they make.
4 more finance journalists.
Aaron Bell
Aaron Bell stands out for turning broker research and complex market commentary into clear stories for everyday investors. He writes about the Australian share market as a journalist for The Motley Fool Australia and also works as a freelance journalist and editor focused on financial topics and the Australian economy. His beat covers ASX-listed companies and exchange-traded funds. He writes on broker recommendations, valuation changes, price targets, upside forecasts, earnings results, guidance, and share price reactions. He also covers thematic and emerging markets ETFs, NASDAQ-focused funds, and sectors such as space-related industries. In his reporting, he uses numbers, rating changes, and target prices to explain risk, reward, and what has changed in the business.
Adam McCleery
Adam McCleery tracks the money and deals shaping advertising and media agencies. He is a journalist at AdNews, covering agency pitches, account moves, media buying decisions, budgets, contracts and settlements. His beat sits between finance, media and marketing, with a focus on advertiser confidence, commercial outcomes and the pressures facing agencies, brands and media owners. He reports on television, streaming, subscription models and platform strategies, as well as artificial intelligence, data, privacy and ad technology. His past work spans print, digital and business-to-business titles. He writes in a straightforward, deal-driven style. He follows how brands review, consolidate or shift agency relationships, and how pricing, measurement, fragmentation, policy and economic conditions affect spending, investment, risk and the value of agency services.
Adelaide Miller
Adelaide Miller is an award-winning national business reporter at the ABC who stands out for linking markets coverage with accountability reporting on how finance, regulation and corporate decisions affect workers, consumers and small businesses. She covers superannuation, small business obligations, the ASX, global indices, inflation, government debt, investor sentiment, cryptocurrency, corporate conduct, mortgage stress, and consumer impact. She reports on the gap between legislative intent and on-the-ground practice, and she often uses data, live markets context, and direct reporting from affected people. Her background includes ABC Investigations, Background Briefing, and Four Corners. She also has reported on AI-driven political campaigning, Telstra’s Senate inquiry scrutiny, family law, and a personal essay on her grandmother’s dementia. She works across TV, radio, online, and podcast formats.
Adeshola Ore
Adeshola Ore reports on finance and public policy through their effects on everyday life. They are a reporter at the Guardian, covering tax debates, public spending, institutional policy and the communities shaped by them. Their beat also includes politics, rights, social equity, climate, migration, Indigenous policy, agriculture, food safety and public health. Notable reporting has covered bird flu and egg supplies, catastrophic floods, death cap mushroom poisonings, refugee communities, university misconduct and place-naming rules in Tasmania. Earlier work included global climate conferences, international affairs and social policy. Ore reports through live political coverage, ground-level interviews, documents and hearings. They write news features and explainers that clarify complex rules, risks and rights. They also contribute to the Guardian’s daily news podcast, bringing field reporting and interviews with affected communities into wider discussions of politics and policy.