How Many Hours Must a Student
Work to Survive in Melbourne?
An Interactive Data
Investigation into Student Housing Affordability,
2015–2030
An interactive data investigation into Melbourne’s student housing affordability crisis, 2015–2030
Melbourne’s rental market has reached a crisis point for students. Between 2015 and 2026, median weekly rent in metropolitan Melbourne surged 51% — from $370 to $560 per week — while the National Minimum Wage grew by just 44%. In 2015, a student working at minimum wage needed 21.4 hours per week just to cover rent. By 2026, that figure has climbed to 22.5 hours — and the total cost of living (rent, groceries, transport, utilities) demands 32.0 hours of minimum-wage work weekly.
All data are sourced from official Australian government and regulatory publications. No paywalled data was used.
Dataset 1 — ABS Consumer Price Index (Cat.
6401.0)
Australian Bureau of Statistics CPI quarterly data, Melbourne All Groups
and sub-groups.
🔗 https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release
Variables used: CPI All Groups; Food & Non-Alcoholic
Beverages; Electricity & Gas; Transport
Dataset 2 — Fair Work Commission National Minimum Wage
Orders
Annual minimum wage determinations effective 1 July each year.
🔗 https://www.fwc.gov.au/work-conditions/minimum-wages-and-conditions/national-minimum-wage/national-minimum-wage-orders
Variables used: Hourly rate, weekly rate (38-hour week)
See also: Fair Work Ombudsman Annual Wage Review 2023–24 (https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/workplace-laws/annual-wage-review/2023-2024-annual-wage-review)
and 2024–25 (https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/workplace-laws/annual-wage-review/annual-wage-review-2024-2025)
Dataset 3 — DFFH Victoria Rental Report
(Quarterly)
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing — Metropolitan Rent Index;
median weekly rents by LGA and suburb.
🔗 https://www.dffh.vic.gov.au/publications/rental-report
🔗 https://discover.data.vic.gov.au/dataset/rental-report-quarterly-quarterly-median-rents-by-lga
🔗 https://discover.data.vic.gov.au/dataset/rental-report-quarterly-moving-annual-rents-by-suburb
Variables used: Metropolitan Rent Index; median weekly rent
(all dwellings, all metropolitan Melbourne); moving annual rents by
suburb
Dataset 4 — ABS Household Expenditure Survey
Expenditure on groceries, utilities, and transport by household
type.
🔗 https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/finance/household-expenditure-survey-australia-summary-results/latest-release
Variables used: Weekly expenditure on food, utilities,
transport (interpolated between survey years — see methodology note
below)
Dataset 5 — ABS Latest Insights into the Rental
Market
ABS analysis of rental market trends.
🔗 https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/latest-insights-rental-market
Dataset 6 — PTV GTFS Static Feed (Public Transport
Victoria)
Stop counts per suburb used to measure transport access.
🔗 https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/footer/data-and-reporting/datasets/
Variables used: Stop count within 500 m radius of suburb
centroid
Year-label convention
The minimum wage is effective from 1 July each year. All wage figures in this project are labelled by the calendar year in which that rate is the prevailing rate — i.e. the rate operative from the preceding 1 July. For example, $24.94/hr (effective 1 July 2024) is labelled year = 2025 and also year = 2026 (the same rate remained operative through the project submission date in June 2026). Rent and CPI figures are annual averages for that calendar year. This convention is applied consistently across all five charts, the summary table, and all KPI values.
Expenditure interpolation
Weekly expenditure values for groceries, utilities, and transport were interpolated between ABS Household Expenditure Survey (HES) waves (2015–16 and 2022–23) using the corresponding ABS CPI sub-group indices:
The HES base-year expenditure was scaled by the ratio of the sub-group index at each year to the index at the HES reference year, then rounded to the nearest whole dollar. Years beyond the 2022–23 HES wave were extrapolated using the same sub-group indices. This approach follows standard ABS practice for updating household budget estimates between survey years.
Wage-year corrections
All minimum wage figures have been verified against published Fair Work Commission National Minimum Wage Orders. The 2022 value was corrected from $20.33 to $21.38, reflecting the FWC’s delayed FY2021–22 determination (effective 1 November 2021). The previously published figure of $20.33 for 2022 was erroneous.
# Key preprocessing steps (see 01_data_prep.R for full version)
# 1. Index cost components to 2015 = 100
master_data <- master_data |>
mutate(
cpi_idx100 = cpi_index / cpi_index[year == 2015] * 100,
rent_idx100 = median_rent_pw / median_rent_pw[year == 2015] * 100,
grocery_idx100 = grocery_index / grocery_index[year == 2015] * 100,
utilities_idx100 = utilities_index / utilities_index[year == 2015] * 100,
transport_idx100 = transport_index / transport_index[year == 2015] * 100,
wage_idx100 = wage_ph / wage_ph[year == 2015] * 100
)
# 2. Calculate hours-of-work metrics
master_data <- master_data |>
mutate(
hrs_for_rent = median_rent_pw / wage_ph, # hours to cover rent only
hrs_for_total = total_pw / wage_ph, # hours to cover all living costs
rent_pct_wage = median_rent_pw / wage_pw * 100 # rent as % of 38-hr week earnings
)
# 3. Scenario forecasts (2026–2030) — illustrative only, not statistical forecasts
# Central: rent +4.3% pa (DFFH 10-yr MRI average), wage +4% pa (FWC trend)
# High: rent +6% pa, wage +3% pa
# Low: rent +2.5% pa, wage +4.5% paA multivariate indexed time series comparing how Melbourne’s cost of living components have grown relative to 2015. Toggle categories and zoom to explore.
📌 Key Finding: Utility costs rose 65% above 2015 levels by 2026 — the largest single cost increase of any category. Rent increased 51%, well above the 31% CPI rise. The minimum wage grew 44%, faster than CPI but still trailing rent and utilities.
A multivariate combination chart showing annual percentage changes in minimum wage, CPI, and rent. Demonstrates the gap between earnings growth and cost growth.
📌 Key Finding: In five of the past ten years, rent growth outpaced wage growth. The 2022–23 post-pandemic surge saw rent climb 8% while wages rose only 2.8%. The 2022 correction (the delayed FY2021–22 wage decision effective November 2021) reflects the disruption to the normal annual wage-setting cycle caused by COVID-19, creating a persistent affordability gap that has not fully recovered.
A multivariate dual-axis area chart showing hours of minimum-wage work required to pay rent, and rent as a percentage of full-time minimum-wage earnings.
📌 Key Finding: By 2026 a student needs 22.5 hours/week just to pay rent at minimum wage — more than half a standard part-time workload. Total living costs now demand 32.0 hours/week of paid work. Research consistently shows working more than 15–20 hours per week significantly harms academic performance (Robotham, 2012).
An interactive Melbourne suburb map. Circle colour = weekly rent level. Circle size = transport access (PTV stops within 500 m). Click any suburb for detailed statistics.
📌 Key Finding: Outer suburbs such as Belgrave ($300/wk), Werribee ($320/wk), and Dandenong ($330/wk) offer the lowest rents — but have severely limited public transport access (4–9 stops) and are 30–44 km from major universities, adding 2–3 hours of commuting daily. The student affordability sweet spot — low rent + reasonable transport + university proximity — barely exists in Melbourne’s current market.
A multivariate scenario projection combining historical hours-for-rent data with three forecast scenarios to 2030. Toggle scenarios and show/hide the rent trend line.
⚠️ Disclaimer: Scenario projections are illustrative and do not constitute statistical forecasts.
📌 Key Finding: Under the central scenario, students will need 23.6 hours/week just to pay rent by 2030 — broadly stable because rent and wage growth are assumed to track one another. Under the worst-case scenario (rent +6%, wage +3%), this rises to 26.7 hours — a persistent and growing burden. Only the best-case scenario (rent +2.5%, wage +4.5%) reduces the rent burden, falling to approximately 21 hours/week by 2030.
| Year | Min Wage (\(/hr) </th> <th style="text-align:right;"> Median Rent (\)/wk) | Total Costs ($/wk) | Hrs/wk: Rent | Hrs/wk: All Costs | Rent % of Wage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $17.29 | $370 | $523 | 21.4 | 30.2 | 56.3% |
| 2016 | $17.7 | $380 | $538 | 21.5 | 30.4 | 56.5% |
| 2017 | $18.29 | $390 | $555 | 21.3 | 30.3 | 56.1% |
| 2018 | $18.93 | $400 | $571 | 21.1 | 30.2 | 55.6% |
| 2019 | $19.49 | $415 | $593 | 21.3 | 30.4 | 56% |
| 2020 | $19.84 | $410 | $589 | 20.7 | 29.7 | 54.4% |
| 2021 | $20.33 | $420 | $603 | 20.7 | 29.7 | 54.4% |
| 2022 | $21.38 | $440 | $629 | 20.6 | 29.4 | 54.2% |
| 2023 | $23.23 | $480 | $687 | 20.7 | 29.6 | 54.4% |
| 2024 | $24.1 | $520 | $744 | 21.6 | 30.9 | 56.8% |
| 2025 | $24.94 | $545 | $778 | 21.9 | 31.2 | 57.5% |
| 2026 | $24.94 | $560 | $798 | 22.5 | 32.0 | 59.1% |
RMIT AI Tool Use Acknowledgement
In accordance with RMIT University’s Generative AI Tools in Assessment Policy, I acknowledge that AI-assisted tools were used during the completion of this assignment in the following ways:
plotly and
leaflet chart construction, and to help structure
tidyverse data pipeline steps. All generated code was
reviewed, tested, and modified by the student before inclusion.All use of AI tools complied with the guidelines set out in the RMIT University Academic Integrity Policy and the assessment instructions for COSC2670.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025a). Consumer price index, Australia (Cat. no. 6401.0). https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2022). Household expenditure survey, Australia: Summary of results (Cat. no. 6530.0). https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/finance/household-expenditure-survey-australia-summary-results/latest-release
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025b). Latest insights into the rental market. https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/latest-insights-rental-market
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing Victoria. (2025). Rental report — September quarter 2025. State Government of Victoria. https://www.dffh.vic.gov.au/publications/rental-report
Fair Work Commission. (2025). National minimum wage orders. https://www.fwc.gov.au/work-conditions/minimum-wages-and-conditions/national-minimum-wage/national-minimum-wage-orders
Fair Work Ombudsman. (2024). 2023–2024 annual wage review. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/workplace-laws/annual-wage-review/2023-2024-annual-wage-review
Fair Work Ombudsman. (2025). 2024–2025 annual wage review. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/workplace-laws/annual-wage-review/annual-wage-review-2024-2025
Housing.vic.gov.au. (2025). What does rent cost in Victoria? State Government of Victoria. https://www.housing.vic.gov.au/what-does-rent-cost-victoria
Public Transport Victoria. (2025). PTV GTFS static feed [Data set]. Department of Transport and Planning, Victoria. https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/footer/data-and-reporting/datasets/
Reserve Bank of Australia. (2025). Statement on monetary policy — February 2025. https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/
RMIT University. (2025). Melbourne city campus [Map]. https://www.rmit.edu.au/about/our-locations-and-facilities/locations/melbourne
Robotham, D. (2012). Student part-time employment: Characteristics and consequences. Education + Training, 54(1), 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400911211198904
University of Melbourne. (2025). Parkville campus [Map]. https://about.unimelb.edu.au/campuses-and-facilities/campuses/parkville
Victorian Government Data Vic. (2025a). Rental report – Quarterly: Quarterly median rents by LGA [Data set]. https://discover.data.vic.gov.au/dataset/rental-report-quarterly-quarterly-median-rents-by-lga
Victorian Government Data Vic. (2025b). Rental report – Quarterly: Moving annual rents by suburb [Data set]. https://discover.data.vic.gov.au/dataset/rental-report-quarterly-moving-annual-rents-by-suburb
RMIT University | COSC2670 Data Visualisation | Assignment 3 |
2026
All code and data available in the project repository.