Understanding the Crisis

• The cost of living in Australia has surged across essential categories.
• This presentation explores the key economic indicators driving these rising expenses.
• Using open national data sets, we uncover which sectors are leading the squeeze and who’s most affected.

CPI Trends Over Time

Data: Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index - The Comparative Change

Steepest Increase: Fruit and vegetables show the highest rise from December to April. Outpacing Averages: Essential food items have surged significantly above the overall basket’s average. Household Impact: Rapid price increases stress family budgets. Data Source: ABS, Monthly CPI Indicator, April 2025.

Education and Family: The Necessary Burdens

The rising costs of essential services like education are not as visible as transport or housing costs, but they steadily add pressure on household budgets. In this slide we compare the recent movements in education costs with overall household spending growth. Notice that both series frequently exceed the RBA’s target range of 2–3%, which compounds the cost-of-living crisis (Reserve Bank of Australia).

Are Wages Keeping Up?

Household incomes are coming under increasing pressure and being devalued daily as there is no adjustment for the cost of living, with the 2 being compared you can see how the spikes are not being compensated for.

Under the Hood: Inflation Among International Counterparts

Although Australia’s inflation challenges are real, they are not unique. When examining the cumulative change in average consumer prices (annual percent change) from 1980 through 2025 across several western nations and the global average, Australia fares relatively well compared to many peers. Despite this, not pushing for the betterment of our nation and its people just because it isn’t as bad is negligent.

The Road Ahead

Our Journey through the cost of living crisis that we are all currently dealing with reveals a multifaceted issue with no single solution.

• Rising Essentials: Food, housing, and education costs are climbing at a pace that outstrips wage growth.
  
• Wage Lag: As illustrated by the divergent trends between the Wage Price Index and the Consumer Price Index, wages have not kept up with inflation—reducing real income and purchasing power.
  
• International Context: Although Australia fares better than some international peers in cumulative inflation, the core challenges remain.
  
• Hidden Pressures: Even “quiet” sectors like education and health contribute significantly to the mounting burden on households.

The Visual insights that have been presented are meant not only to inform, but to remind us that you are these data points, you are facing this issue, every spike is your grocery bill going up a couple dollars, that coffee that you can’t afford, telling your friends you can’t go out.

The Road Ahead

• What do we do, Policymakers, businesses and communities need to work together to understand and help the situation as it won’t be up to just one person, by putting together this story assisted by visual representations I have put it to you to do your part.

References

• Consumer Price Index (CPI) Data:
  Australian Bureau of Statistics. All Groups CPI, Australia, Quarterly and Annual Movement (%), Australia March Quarter 2025.

• Wage Price Index (WPI) Data:
  Australian Bureau of Statistics. All Sector WPI, Quarterly and Annual Movement (%), Seasonally Adjusted (a), Australia March Quarter 2025.

• Household Spending Data – TTY % Change:
  Australian Bureau of Statistics. Household Spending, Current Price, TTY % Change, Calendar Adjusted
  (Source: Household spending on health up 15.7% in the past year, 7/06/2024).

• Household Spending Data – Indexed:
  Australian Bureau of Statistics. Household Spending, Current Price, Calendar Adjusted (Indexed to January 2019), Monthly Household Spending Indicator April 2024.

• Education Costs Data:
  Australian Bureau of Statistics. Education, Australia, March Quarter Movements (%), Australia March Quarter 2025.

• Inflation Rate Data:
  Inflation Rate, Average Consumer Prices (Annual Percent Change) – Data compiled from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and World estimates (including IMF projections, 2025).

All data retrieved or compiled from respective official sources as provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).