Gov ScoreAustralia

Commitment

Inflation

Is inflation back inside the Reserve Bank's 2-3% target band?

Inflation: outside target.

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Outside target

Annual inflation is 4%, outside the 2-3% band.

Latest
4.0%annual CPI inflation, measured over the past 12 months · August 2026
Since the government took office
Better−2.3 pts6.2% → 3.9% (Jun qtr 2022 → Jun qtr 2026)Starting point: Inflation was already 6.2% and climbing when the government took office. It peaked at 7.8% at the end of 2022.
Over the past year
Worse+0.80 pts3.2% → 4.0% (Aug 2025 → Aug 2026)

Inflation

  • Original
  • Annual % change
  • Annual CPI inflation (quarterly)
  • Annual CPI inflation (new monthly CPI)

The commitment

Keep consumer price inflation between 2% and 3%.

Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy (Treasurer and RBA) · source

How the verdict is reached

Within target if the latest annual inflation rate is between 2% and 3%. This is the Reserve Bank’s job, so it is shown but does not count in the government’s tally.

Today: Annual inflation is 4%, outside the 2-3% band.

What this is

Inflation is how fast prices are rising across a typical basket of goods and services: food, rent, petrol, power, insurance and more. The ABS measures it with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and this figure compares prices with the same quarter a year earlier.

Why it matters

When inflation runs above wage growth, household budgets shrink. The Reserve Bank aims to keep inflation between 2% and 3% on average. Inflation above that band usually means higher interest rates.

More from the figures

  • Prices overall are 16.8% higher than in the June quarter 2022.
  • On the quarterly measure, inflation has been above the top of the 2-3% target band in 13 of the 17 quarters since the government took office. It was 3.9% in the June quarter 2026.
  • Underlying (trimmed mean) inflation, which strips out volatile items, was 3.6% in the June quarter 2026.
  • Inflation was already 6.2% in the June quarter 2022 when the government took office. The test is how quickly it has come back down, and whether it has stayed down.

How it’s calculated

Headline: the ABS monthly Consumer Price Index, percentage change from the same month a year earlier (all groups, eight capitals). History: year-ended quarterly CPI inflation from RBA Table G1, which extends back decades. The cumulative change compares the latest quarterly CPI index with the June quarter 2022.

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