Summary of cost of living changes in the September Quarter 2018. This Update features an in-depth look at petrol costs. It also looks at affordability, particularly for low income households and regional consumers. CPI figures show that over the last year petrol prices went up by 19.2% in Adelaide, and by around 30% over the two years combined. However, the broader picture of petrol prices is more nuanced.
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Cost of Living Updates
No. 36, September Qtr 2018: Petrol
22 November 2018
No. 35, June Qtr 2018: Newstart
6 August 2018
Summary of cost of living changes in the June Quarter 2018. This Update features an in depth look at the cost of living for those on Newstart and other base level social security payments, including budgets from 5 social security recipients. The statistical analysis shows the value of Newstart has declined over 20 years, both in real terms and in comparison with the income of most households in South Australia, while the budgets show how difficult (impossible) it is to make ends meets on Newstart.
No. 34, March Qtr 2018: Summary
2 May 2018
Summary of cost of living changes for the December Quarter. There is no special feature in this Update, but the summary figures do show that a single person with two children on Newstart would be $7.94 per week worse off than they were at the same time last year.
No. 33, December Qtr 2017: Telecommunications
12 February 2018
Summary of cost of living changes for the December Quarter, with a special feature looking at telecommunication costs in South Australia. It is the first Cost of Living report to combine data from the Australian Digital Inclusion Index, the ABS 2015-16 Household Expenditure Survey and the Census. Beyond the surprise that South Australians spend more on telecommunications than energy, there are also big gaps between Adelaide and regional consumers.
No. 32, September Quarter 2017: Summary
1 November 2017
A summary of cost of living changes in the September Quarter. There is no special feature in this Update.
Download Cost of Living Update, No.32
No. 31, June Qtr 2017: Housing Stress
6 August 2017
Summary of cost of living changes for the June Quarter, with a special feature based on data from the 2016 Census on housing affordability and housing stress in South Australia. The analysis includes a breakdown of housing stress by state electorate because of the importance of housing affordability as an issue in the March 2018 state election issue.
Download Cost of Living Update, No. 31
No. 30, March Qtr 2017: Energy Snapshot
3 May 2017
Summary of cost of living changes in the March Quarter 2017. Given that petrol price rises were a big factor in this quarter, the report also contains a snapshot of price changes over the last ten years in the key energy commodities: petrol, gas, and electricity.
Download Cost of Living Update, No 30
No.29, December Qtr 2016
6 March 2017
Summary of cost of living changes in the December Quarter 2016. This issue also contains a snapshot of key cost of living changes since the election of the State Labor Government, including a comparison with national price changes and a few surprises.
No. 28, September Qtr 2016
10 November 2016
A summary of cost of living changes in the September Quarter. There is no special feature in this Update.
Download Cost of Living Update, No 28
No. 27, June Qtr 2016: Financial Pressures Survey
4 August 2016
A summary of the cost of living changes in the June Quarter. This Update also includes a report on the results of a survey of 500 low income Australians about their household budgets and financial pressures.