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Outcomes
Outcomes of the 16th series review of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) were announced on 6 December 2010. Key outcomes include:
- Endorsement of the principal purpose of the CPI as a general measure of household inflation. The current conceptual approach to measuring the CPI will be retained.
- The ABS acknowledges that the CPI is used for many purposes, so the current suite of living cost indexes will continue. Where there is a clearly demonstrated need, and funding provided, other complementary quarterly price indexes will be produced for particular population subgroups.
- From the September quarter 2011, the indirectly measured component of financial services will be removed from the headline CPI until such time that methods and data sources are sufficiently robust for reintroduction to the CPI. A new analytical series, comprising the All groups CPI inclusive of indirectly measured financial services, will be published.
- The publication Average Retail Prices of Selected Items, Eight Capital Cities (cat. no. 6403.0.55.001) will be discontinued after the June quarter 2011 issue.
Implementation of other key outcomes would involve additional costs and appropriate funding is required before they can be progressed. These include:
- production of a high quality CPI monthly rather than quarterly, as at present, to support more timely and responsive economic management, and
- increasing the frequency with which expenditure weights are updated, from 6 yearly to 4 yearly, to mitigate the risks arising from potential upward bias in the index.
Further decisions are detailed in the Information Paper: Outcome of the 16th series Australian Consumer Price Index (CPI) review (cat. no. 6469.0).
Background
On 15 December 2009, Brian Pink, Australian Statistician, announced the 16th series review of the CPI.
This major review of the CPI focussed on the following topics:
- Principal purpose of the CPI;
- Compilation frequency of the CPI;
- Evaluation of the deposit and loan facilities index;
- Maintaining the relevance of the CPI;
- Commodity classification;
- Analytical series.
A number of other topics were also considered, these are detailed in Information paper: Issues to be considered during the 16th Series Australian Consumer Price Index Review (cat. no. 6468.0).
Consultation
As part of the review process, the ABS invited user involvement in the evolution of the CPI. Organisations and individuals were asked to contribute to any topic of the CPI review. View submissions
Contacts
For more information on the nature and content of the review and its outcomes, email the review team at cpi.review@abs.gov.au, or phone Michael Abbondante on 02 6252 7124.
For the latest CPI information, phone the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070. |
This page last updated 3 December 2010
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