Consumer Inflation Expectations in Australia

Measures the rate of inflation Australian consumers expect over the next 12 months, based on the monthly telephone survey of around 1,200 households conducted by the Melbourne Institute.

Monthly telephone survey of ~1,200 households asking whether and by how much prices will change over the next 12 months. The headline figure is the 30-per-cent trimmed mean, which excludes the top and bottom 10% of responses before averaging.

Rising inflation expectations can foreshadow future wage and price pressure and are watched by the Reserve Bank of Australia as a price-stability risk signal, often supporting a hawkish stance on the cash rate.

A perception-based measure, not actual inflation; can be skewed by highly visible prices (fuel, food) rather than the full CPI basket. Sample size is relatively small and the full detailed report is subscription-only; only the headline trimmed-mean figure is public.