Correction to Child care costs in the CPI
As explained in the ABS media statement released on 19 November 2024, Correction to child care costs in the CPI, out-of-pocket child care costs have been corrected as part of compiling the December 2024 quarter. The ABS made errors in estimating the impact of the Government’s reforms to the Child Care Subsidy when they took effect in July 2023.
The correction applied this quarter reduced the Child care index by 5.8 per cent and reduced the Preschool and primary education index by 0.4 per cent. This meant the CPI quarterly movement was 0.05 percentage points lower than it would otherwise have been without the correction, and the Trimmed mean quarterly movement was 0.03 percentage points lower than it would otherwise have been.
Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates
The 2024-25 Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates and State government rebates applied from July 2024. These rebates have had the effect of reducing electricity costs for households in the September and December 2024 quarters. More details on the impact and timing of these rebates are provided below.
Trimmed mean table added
A table has been included in this release which shows the CPI Expenditure Classes that were trimmed out to calculate the Trimmed mean in the December 2024 quarter. Details are available in Trimmed mean measure.
Update to the CPI weights next quarter
The CPI weights are updated each year to ensure the weights used in the CPI basket reflect contemporary household spending patterns. The weights will next be updated in the March 2025 quarter. The updated CPI weights will be published at the same time as the January Monthly CPI indicator release on 26 February 2025.
Monthly CPI Indicator
The latest monthly inflation data can be found in the Monthly CPI Indicator. For more information on how the Monthly CPI Indicator relates to the quarterly CPI see Introducing a monthly CPI indicator for Australia.
Complete monthly measure of the CPI
The ABS will release a complete monthly CPI in late 2025, as part of its transformative program called Big Data, Timely Insights: Phase 2 (BDTI2). Information is available on the Complete monthly measure of the CPI.