Australian inflation accelerates to 4.3% ahead of central bank rate decision

Australia's headline inflation rate accelerated to 4.3% in the year to September 2026, according to new official data published on 28 October 2026. Headline inflation measures how fast prices rise across a broad range of goods and services. It is tracked through the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes each month.

A second measure, underlying inflation, which aims to show the trend once short-term swings are filtered out, was 3.6% over the year to September. In the month of September alone, the CPI rose 0.8%, after a 0.4% rise in August, the ABC reported.

Some of the biggest price increases were in essentials. Transport costs rose 8.7% over the 12 months to September, housing costs rose 5.2%, and food prices rose 3.2% over the same period.

The figures land in the middle of a tightening cycle. The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank, sets the cash rate, the benchmark interest rate that feeds into borrowing costs across the economy. The cash rate now stands at 4.6%, its highest level in 15 years, after four rate increases in 2026.

The bank's deputy governor, Andrew Hauser, described the September numbers as "too high" at a Senate estimates hearing, a session in which government officials answer questions from senators, on 28 October 2026. The RBA aims to bring price growth back toward its 2.5% target.

Most economists were expecting another cash rate increase when the RBA makes its next monetary policy decision on 3 November 2026. The next CPI release, covering October, is scheduled for 25 November 2026 at 11:30am AEDT, the time zone of Australia's eastern states.