Find the latest insights, updates, and analysis here.
insurance
The average home contents insurance premium reached $531 a year in 2024-25, up 20.1% from 2021-22, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Combined home and contents cover averaged $2,360, while home building cover averaged $1,852.
insurance
Australian households reported average annual pet insurance spending of $145 for dogs and $70 for cats in the year to March 2025. These population-wide averages include households without insurance and are not average policy premiums. About 24% of dog owners and 14% of cat owners reported having insurance.
Spending
Insurance prices rose 5.5% in the year to May 2026 and are now 52.7% higher than at the end of 2019, roughly double the rise in headline inflation. Data from the ABS, APRA, the ACCC and the Department of Health.
Spending
Australian households paid an average of $16.74 a week for house and contents insurance and $38.56 a week for accident and health insurance in the ABS's 2015–16 Household Expenditure Survey. These remain the latest official ABS figures for household insurance spending. They are averages across all households, not average premiums paid by insured policyholders.
insurance
Domestic motor insurers wrote $4.833 billion in premium in the March 2026 quarter, across 4.781 million risks. That equals an industry average of $1,011 in gross written premium per risk, but it is not the same as the price paid by a typical driver for comprehensive car insurance.
insurance
Combined hospital and extras cover for a single person averages $3,632 a year in 2026, an unweighted mean across published policies. Premiums rose 4.41% from 1 April, the largest increase since 2017. Average costs by policy type, hospital tier, age, household type and state, built from PrivateHealth.gov.au's full pricing dataset.
tax
Australian governments collected $839.0 billion in tax revenue in 2024-25. The Commonwealth collected 80.5% of that total. Land tax rose 177.8% over the decade, faster than any other major tax. Data from the ABS, ATO, Treasury and state revenue offices.
tax
From 1 July 2027, Australia's 50% capital gains tax (CGT) discount will be replaced by cost base indexation, with a 30% minimum tax applying to eligible real gains, ending a nearly 28-year run for the discount and reintroducing indexation in a modified form. Treasury estimates revenue forgone from the discount at $21.79 billion in 2025-26. In 2022-23, the most recent year with detailed distributional data, 83% of the benefit went to people in the top taxable income decile.
Spending
HECS began in 1989 as a flat $1,800 charge with a $22,000 repayment threshold. By 2024-25 it had become a field-based, marginally-repaid loan system carrying $82.2 billion in debt. Here is how it changed, in the data.
Spending
The annual HECS-HELP cost of a Commonwealth supported degree in 2026 ranges from $4,738 to $17,399 depending on discipline, a gap of $12,661. Move into full-fee postgraduate study and the range widens: a domestic medical degree at Bond University can cost more than $470,000, well above the $186,544 loan limit for that field. Field of study affects the student contribution set for Commonwealth supported places, while provider-set full fees can create much larger debt exposure outside HECS-HELP.
Spending
The average outstanding HELP debt, commonly referred to as HECS debt, was $27,739 at 30 June 2025. Nearly 3 million Australians owed a combined $82.2 billion in student loan debt, and the average balance has grown 165% over the past two decades.
Spending
The minimum income for compulsory HECS-HELP repayments is $69,528 in 2026–27. ATO-linked HELP statistics show the average borrower took 9.9 years to repay a HELP debt in full.
Housing
Tasmania has the lowest mean dwelling price of any Australian state and the smallest average first-home buyer loan. Data on prices, borrowing, earnings and government support by state, March quarter 2026.
Spending
HECS-HELP indexation hit 7.1% in 2023 before a retrospective law cut it to 3.2%. Data on how the rate is calculated, the shift to the lower of CPI or WPI, and how the 2025 debt reduction changed balances.
Housing
In 2025, a median Australian household needed 45.9% of its income to service a new mortgage and 11.2 years to save a 20% deposit. Data on required income by city, property price, deposit size and borrower type.
Employment
Managers averaged $145,647 a year while sales workers averaged $45,666 in the latest official data. A complete breakdown of Australian earnings by occupation, industry, job type, wage growth and gender.
Housing
Nearly 1 million Australian households aged 55 and over still had a mortgage in the latest detailed ABS age-by-housing-cost data. Data on mortgage debt by age, housing costs in retirement, superannuation, equity release and downsizing trends.
Interest Rates
Australia has no single official borrowing-power figure. Here is how APRA, the RBA and ABS data define what banks actually assess, and what the latest lending numbers show.
Housing
Buying an average-priced home in New South Wales attracts $54,151 in stamp duty. In Tasmania, the bill is $28,949. For first home buyers purchasing established homes in most states and territories, average dwelling prices now sit above the threshold where concessions apply. From 1 July 2026, the ACT is the only jurisdiction offering uncapped full relief for eligible buyers.
Housing
Australian councils and the ACT government collected $25.1 billion in municipal rates in 2024–25. Indicative average annual bills for a typical residential property range from $1,775 in Adelaide to $3,188 in Sydney; Canberra's $4,241 reflects a single ACT Treasury household scenario rather than a comparable city average.
Property
On the latest March 2026 household saving ratio of 6.2%, it takes the average Australian household about 32 years to save a 20% deposit on a mean-priced home — 38 years in New South Wales, the longest state timeline.
Spending
How much Australians have saved at every age, from their 20s to pre-retirement. Superannuation balances, gender gap data, mean vs median, and the household saving ratio trend — all explained.
Housing
The true annual cost of owning a home in Australia, including mortgage repayments, insurance, council rates, maintenance, strata fees and water. State-by-state data for all eight states and territories.
cost-of-living
Australian household electricity usage was valued at $23.9 billion in 2024–25, around twice the 2009–10 level. Using a regulated benchmark for households using 6,500 kWh a year, annual electricity bills range from $2,187 in Tasmania to $3,357 in South Australia. Electricity prices rose 22.5% in the year to April 2026.
Housing
Around 3.24 million Australian households have a mortgage. New owner-occupier loans averaged $735,000 nationally in the March 2026 quarter, rising to $860,000 in NSW. Average outstanding mortgage rates fell to a low of 5.5% in January 2026, then rose to 6.0% by April after two RBA rate hikes. Total new lending reached a record $385 billion in 2025.
Housing
A 0.25 percentage point rate rise adds $116 a month to repayments on the average Australian mortgage of $736,000. See the impact by loan size, state, and borrower type.
cost-of-living
Australian households had an estimated average of $674 per month in essential bills in 2025, excluding mortgage repayments. For owner-occupiers with an average new mortgage, total monthly outgoings reached about $4,911.
Housing
The estimated average deposit gap in Australia was about $352,500 at the end of 2025, based on the difference between the mean dwelling price and the average new owner-occupier loan size in the December quarter. The amount varies by state, property type and deposit size, with benchmark deposits shown at 5%, 10% and 20% of the purchase price.
Housing
Darwin is Australia's most affordable capital city in this comparison for buying a house in 2026, with a typical established house costing 5.60 times yearly household income. Sydney is the least affordable on the same measure, where a typical established house costs 11.79 times yearly household income.
Spending
Average credit card debt in Australia was $2,217 per active account in February 2026, based on balances accruing interest divided by active accounts. Total credit and charge card balances were $44.2 billion.
Housing
On the latest official Australian household cash-flow data, renting still costs less than paying a mortgage. Mortgage households paid $114 a week more than renter households in the 2019–20 ABS housing-cost survey, while a 20% deposit purchase in NSW now needs more than $322,000 in upfront cash to settle
Housing
Australian rent inflation has cooled to 3.8% year-on-year in February 2026, but levels remain high. NSW medians sit near $670 a week, Western Australia has seen 75% growth since 2018, and 32.2% of renting households spend more than 30% of income on rent.
Housing
The average new owner-occupier loan in 2025 was $693,000, working out to around $4,006 a month at the February 2026 rate. Scheduled repayments now claim 9.6% of household disposable income.
Housing
The national median house price reached $925,500 in the year to March 2026, but the deposit is only one part of the cash required at settlement. Stamp duty, legal fees, registration charges and settlement adjustments can add thousands of dollars beyond the deposit, depending on the state and purchase price.
macro
A salary of around $122,000 sits in the top 20% of Australian employee earnings. At $156,000 it reaches the top 10%, and at roughly $203,000 the top 5%. Full ABS and ATO data with state breakdowns and a percentile calculator.
Wage statistics
Average full-time ordinary-time earnings reached $2,051 a week in November 2025, up 157% since 2000. After inflation, the real gain in purchasing power is much smaller, at around 15% to 20%.
Wealth & inequality
Australia's average household net worth reached about $1.58 million in 2024, nearly three times the $530,000 recorded in 2004. But the typical household holds far less: the latest detailed survey recorded a median net worth of $579,200. Explore wealth distribution, concentration, superannuation balances by age and gender, and the wealth gap.
Income & earnings
Average full-time earnings vary widely across Australia. In November 2025, the ACT recorded the highest figure at $2,248 a week, while Tasmania recorded the lowest at $1,821 a week. Western Australia ranked second, reflecting the strength of higher-paying industries such as mining.
Income & earnings
The average Australian employee earns an estimated $86,000 a year in early 2026. Data on earnings by age group, the gender pay gap, graduate salaries and superannuation balances across a working life.
Spending
The average full-time salary in Australia is often quoted at around $106,000 a year. But that figure does not show what most people earn. The median taxable income across all individual tax returns is $55,868, while the median income for employees is higher at $74,100.
Employment
The average full-time adult worker earned $106,657 per year based on the latest ABS data, but for most Australians, the more relevant figure is the median: $74,672 per year. Wages grew by 3.8% in the year to November 2025, but higher living costs mean many workers may still feel under pressure in 2026.
Spending
The average Australian household spends $178 a week on groceries, up from $157 when the ABS last measured it in 2016. Beef and veal prices rose 13.5% in the year to February 2026 alone. For single pensioners in regional areas, food now accounts for more than 22% of their income.
Housing
Australian home insurers incurred $13.88 billion in gross claims during 2025, the highest annual total in APRA's current householders series and a 61% increase on 2024. Building-cover premiums have now climbed to more than five times their 2004 level, far outpacing inflation, while almost one in three surveyed homeowners had contents cover that was underinsured or uninsured.
Property
Australian first-home buyers took out 119,464 new loans worth $67.9 billion in 2025. They now account for more than one in three owner-occupier loans, up from around one in four a decade ago.
Spending
Australian households spent an estimated $1.18 trillion on essentials and discretionary categories in 2025, up sharply from prior years amid persistent inflation in housing, food, transport and insurance.
Spending
In FY2025, Australian households saved around 6 cents of every dollar they earned, up from 3 cents the year before. Over the past decade, total household wealth more than doubled, driven by rising property values, higher superannuation balances and stronger household income growth.
Housing
At the 2021 Census, 468,800 Australian households were already spending more than 30% of their income on mortgage repayments, representing 14.5% of all mortgaged households. Since then, higher interest rates, inflation and changing household incomes have reshaped borrowing pressure.
Spending
Household spending can offer an early sign of where the economy is heading. When people keep spending, it can point to confidence. When they pull back, delay purchases or trade down, it can show pressure building in household budgets.
Employment
Employment is one of the main indicators the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) watches before making interest rate decisions. Jobs, wages and hours worked help show whether households are likely to keep spending or start cutting back.
Inflation
Inflation tracks how prices are moving across the economy, from rent and groceries to fuel, bills and services. But the national figure does not always match how rising costs feel in everyday household budgets.
Housing
Australia's home ownership rate was 66% at the 2021 Census, down from around 70% in the early 1980s. More households now own with a mortgage than own outright, a shift that first emerged in 2003 and has continued since.
Spending
Australian households owe a combined $3.40 trillion, with total household debt increasing by 65% over the past ten years. Most of that debt is tied to housing, as mortgages remain the largest financial commitment for Australian households.