The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the monthly CPI indicator for August, which recorded a jump in headline inflation to 3.0%—the highest result since July 2024.
In better news, the policy-relevant trimmed mean inflation moderated to 2.6% in August, down from 2.7% in July.
The main driver of the rise in headline CPI was the surge in electricity prices following the rolling off of rebates.
Electricity costs jumped by 24.6% in the 12 months to August.
According to the ABS:
The annual rise in electricity costs is primarily related to households in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania having higher out-of-pocket costs in August 2025 than they did in August 2024.
In August last year, State Government electricity rebates were in place for Queensland ($1000), Western Australia ($400) and Tasmania ($250). Over the year, those rebates have been used up and those programs have finished. Excluding the impact of the various changes in Commonwealth and State electricity rebates over the last year electricity prices rose 5.9%.
In monthly terms, electricity costs fell 6.3% in August 2025. The fall in costs this month was driven by NSW and ACT, with households in those States receiving their first payments of the extended Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) rebates.
Rising energy costs owing to the renewables transition and gas policy failures will be a constant thorn in the side of the RBA and the nation more generally, since we will experience ongoing inflationary pressures across the supply chain.
