STATE OF PLAY AUSTRALIA 2024: the numbers tell us households around the country are wealthier than they were a year ago so why doesn't it feel that way for so many people?

  

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released 26 September 2024:

> Australian household wealth rose for the seventh consecutive quarter (up 1.5 per cent or $250 billion) in June 2024;

> Total household wealth in that quarter was $16.5 trillion which was 9.3 per cent ($1.4 trillion) higher than a year ago;

> This growth in household wealth was also supported by superannuation assets, which rose moderately by 0.3 per cent ($13.7 billion);

> Households' investment increased by $3.8b to $53.3b, driven by an increase in gross fixed capital formation in June quarter 2024 and non-financial assets owned by households increased by 2.2% ($258.5b), driven by a $216.0b rise in residential land and dwellings; 

>While on the downside household liabilities increased by 1.9% ($58.3b), with a $35.6b rise in housing loans and a $0.5b fall in short term loans.

When it came to cost of living there was some welcome news from the ABS head of “Annual inflation was 2.7 per cent in August, down from 3.5 per cent in July, and is the lowest reading since August 2021.”

ABS All groups monthly CPI indicator, annual movement (%)

ABS Grocery products, annual movement (%)

While the Cost Price Index showed a continued downward trend, petrol along with fruit & veg remained volatile and manufactured foods like tea, coffee, frozen prepared meals & health supplements remained stubbornly resistant to lowered prices. Although while the price of a bag of groceries may fluctuate, rental costs rose 6 per cent in the year to August.

Offsetting this was the ABS announcement in its media release of 25 September 2024 that:

Electricity fell 17.9 per cent in the 12 months to August, which is the largest annual fall since the electricity series started in the early 1980s.

“Commonwealth Government and State Government rebates led to a 14.6 per cent fall in electricity prices in the month of August, which followed a 6.4 per cent fall in July. Excluding the rebates, electricity prices would have risen 0.1 per cent in August and 0.9 per cent in July,” Ms Marquardt said.

ABS Electricity, Australia, monthly and annual movement (%)

Countering the residential electricity rebates has been the rollout of Term of Use Tariffs in Qld, NSW & SA by the retail energy supply industry - involving three different residential tariff rates over each 24 hour cycle for general use electricity in addition to a fixed price tariff for heating water.

ABC News, 1 October 2024

Industry lobby group, the Australian Energy Council has called for a halt to the roll out of Time Of Use and Demand Use residential power tariffs.

 After employing what has to be biggest industry-wide suite of deceptive practices to arbitrarily impose punitive price increases, it seems energy retailers are now in a deep public relations hole.

Faced with the consumer backlash as the reality of 'power bill shock' hits households, energy retailers have tried to distance themselves from the reforms, instead blaming regulators and poles-and-wires companies. In their turn the equally deceptive poles-and-wires companies are pointing the finger of blame at the energy retailers for not directly informing their customers about changes to how residential electricity costs are calculated.

What all those numbers do not say....

The Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research has updated the poverty line for Australia to the March quarter 2024. Inclusive of housing costs, the poverty line [a relative measure of poverty] is $1145.61 per week for a family comprising two adults, one of whom is working, and two dependent children. This is an increase of $4.78 from the poverty line for the previous quarter (Dec 2023).

Based on a 2024 Bank West Curtin Economics Institute assessment of child poverty in Australia it is possible that at least one in six couple with children households would meet that degree of comparative poverty, with another one in twenty living in significant poverty and one in forty in extreme poverty.

An est. 13.4% of the Australian population lived below the poverty line in 2019-2020. There is no indication that the situation has markedly improved in 2024.