Wes Lambert, chief executive of the Australian Restaurant & Cafe Association, said business costs were rising rapidly while coffee prices in Australia were among the lowest in the world. Lambert said businesses changed their prices for many reasons, and that the surcharge ban could have been the impetus for company owners to build up the courage to pass on costs to customers. “Maybe this is the catalyst that has caused cafes and restaurateurs around the country to wake up.”

It has reignited calls from the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association for the hospitality sector to be included in the list of sectors that prioritises visas. “No matter what migration policy that the current or future governments land on, they need to face the reality that chefs and cooks and restaurant managers from overseas are one of the most in demand skilled workers in Australia,” association chief executive Wes Lambert said.

But Wes Lambert, chief executive of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association, said the changes would actually make scheme fees charged by card networks like Eftpos and Visa more opaque. As a result, he said merchant fees – which are the total transaction fees paid by businesses – could climb from around one per cent to US levels of 2.5-3 per cent.