MEDIA RELEASE
April 24, 2007	Embargoed 11.30 am (AEST)	40/2007
ABS to publish the RBA's consumer price measures

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have agreed that the ABS will publish - on behalf of the RBA - the RBA trimmed mean and weighted median consumer price measures.

This step is being taken to enable a more timely release of the RBA measures, making them available at the same time that the quarterly consumer price index is released.

The RBA will maintain responsibility for the design of the measures and will answer queries on their design and use. ABS will be responsible for calculating the measures and will answer queries on the compilation and publication of the measures.

Publication of the measures by the ABS will commence in the June Quarter 2007 issue of Consumer Price Index, Australia(6401.0) which will be released on 25 July 2007.

The measures will appear in tables 9 and 10 of Consumer Price Index, Australia,along with other analytical price series.

The ABS will publish an information paper on 11 July 2007 that will show how the series will appear in the publication.

The RBA will continue to update the series on its website once the figures have been published each quarter by the ABS.