Aussie households close their wallets

Recent data from CBA suggested that Australian households had lifted their spending in response to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) three interest rate cuts and modest growth in household disposable income.

However, the September quarter household spending indicator (HSI) from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), released on Monday, raised doubts over the strength of the consumer rebound.

Aggregate spending volumes increased by only 0.2% in Q3 2025, which is significantly lower than the 0.5% growth in the working-age population.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.