How we see the cost of living in Australia in 2018

Essential Report, 30 January 2018:

​A substantial majority believe that, in the last 12 months, cost of living (73%) and electricity costs (75%) have all got worse. The only economic measure that has got better is company profits (42% better/12% worse).

Compared the last time this question was asked in February 2016, there has been an increase in the percentage that think electricity costs (up 13% to 75%) have got worse. However, there has also been an increase in the percentage that think company profits (+12), unemployment (+19) and the economy overall (+18) have got better.

51% (down 2% since August) believe that, in the last two years, their income has fallen behind the cost of living. 28% (up 3%) think it has stayed even with the cost of living and 14% (down 1%) think it has gone up more.

64% of those earning under $600 pw and 58% of those earning $600-1,000 pw think their income has fallen behind while 54% of those earning over $2,000 pw think it has stayed the same or gone up.

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), media release, 31 January 2018:

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 1 November 2018:

According to the ABS, over the last twelve months up to end September 2017 the Living Cost Index* rose:

2.0% for Pensioner and Beneficiary Households

2.1% for Other Government Transfer Recipient Households

1.7% for Age Pensioner Households

1.6% for Self-Funded Retiree Households

1.5% for Employee Households 

One of the principal drivers to the rise in costs for these groups has been the rise in housing costs due to the rise in wholesale electricity costs.

* The Living Cost Indexes (LCI) have been designed to answer the question:

'By how much would after tax money incomes need to change to allow householdsto purchase the same quantity of consumer goods and services that they purchased in the base period?'