Australia CPI: 2026 Schedule, Dates and What to Expect

Australia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the country’s official measure of inflation, published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Since the complete Monthly CPI was introduced with the October 2025 reference month, the series is released every month rather than every quarter, which makes it one of the most closely watched inflation prints in the Asia-Pacific region. The next release is Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at 11:30am AEST, which is 9:30pm ET on Tuesday, August 25 and 2:30am in London on Wednesday, August 26. It covers the July 2026 reference month. Every date on this page can be added to your own diary using the ICS and Google Calendar feed on this page, so each ABS release lands in your calendar in your local time zone.

This is a high-impact release for the Australian dollar, for Australian government bonds and for expectations of what the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) does next with the cash rate, currently 4.35%. It is also read closely abroad: Australia is a commodity-exporting economy with a heavily indexed housing market, and its inflation path is often treated as an early read on how global energy and services costs are feeding through to households. If you follow inflation data across regions, see also the US CPI report hub for the American equivalent.

2026 and 2027 release schedule

The table below lists every Australia CPI release date confirmed on the ABS future releases calendar. All releases are at 11:30am local Canberra time (AEST in the southern winter, AEDT during daylight saving), which is 9:30pm the previous evening in New York during US daylight saving and 2:30am in London. Note the January 2027 pattern: two releases fall in that month, reflecting the ABS practice of publishing the December reference month early in January and then returning to the usual end-of-month slot.

Source: ABS release calendar, future releases. Dates can move if the ABS revises its publication programme, so the calendar page is always the final word.

What is Australia CPI?

The Consumer Price Index measures the change in the price of a fixed basket of goods and services bought by metropolitan Australian households: groceries, rents, electricity, petrol, insurance, health care, holidays, education, clothing and much more. The headline number quoted in the news is usually the annual rate, meaning the change in that basket over the past 12 months. In the 12 months to June 2026 the CPI rose 3.8%, down from 4.0% in the year to May 2026, according to the ABS.

Alongside headline CPI, the ABS publishes underlying or “core” measures. Core inflation strips out the most volatile price moves so that a one-off swing in petrol or fruit and vegetables does not disguise the underlying trend. The two Australian core measures are the trimmed mean, which removes the largest price rises and falls at either end of the distribution, and the weighted median, which takes the price change of the middle item in the basket. The trimmed mean is the measure the RBA watches most closely; it was 3.6% in the year to June 2026, with the weighted median at 3.7%.

Australia’s inflation architecture changed materially in late 2025. For years the quarterly CPI was the principal measure, with a partial monthly CPI indicator published between quarters. The ABS launched the complete Monthly CPI with the October 2025 reference month, published on November 26, 2025, giving a full monthly basket rather than a subset of prices. That first complete monthly print showed annual inflation of 3.8% in October 2025. Quarterly indexes continue to appear inside the releases that fall at the end of a quarter, so the March, June, September and December reference months carry both monthly and quarterly detail.

Why it matters so much: the RBA has a target of keeping consumer price inflation between 2% and 3% on average over time. Inflation has been running above that band through 2026, which is the main reason the cash rate has stayed high. Australian mortgages are overwhelmingly variable rate or short fixed, so cash rate changes reach household budgets faster than in the United States or much of Europe. That direct link from CPI to the cash rate to monthly repayments is why an inflation print at 11:30am on a Wednesday can be front-page news in Australia.

How is it calculated?

The ABS collects prices from a very large number of sources: supermarket scanner and transactions data, online prices, administrative data from government agencies, utility tariff schedules, rental bond records and direct collection from retailers. Items are grouped into expenditure classes, which roll up into 11 groups such as Housing, Food and non-alcoholic beverages, Transport, and Health. Each group is weighted according to how much households actually spend on it, using household expenditure and national accounts data, and the weights are updated annually.

Housing is the largest single driver in the current cycle. Annual housing inflation was 6.5% in the 12 months to March 2026 and again in the 12 months to May 2026, on ABS figures, with electricity a notable component: electricity costs were 25.4% higher than a year earlier in March 2026 as Commonwealth and state rebates that had held bills down were no longer in place. Rebates, subsidies and their expiry are a recurring feature of Australian CPI readings, and the ABS publishes commentary explaining these effects with each release.

Two practical points. First, the CPI is not seasonally adjusted in the headline series in the way US CPI is, so monthly moves can be lumpy: annual price resets in January for pharmaceuticals and medical services, and in July for water and sewerage rates, land in specific months. The complete Monthly CPI was designed partly to capture those resets in the month they actually happen. Second, the CPI is generally not revised once published, unlike GDP; the ABS did make a specific correction to electricity in the July 2025 data, which it documented in the following release, but revisions are the exception rather than the rule.

The RBA does not calculate the CPI and has no role in producing it. Its Monetary Policy Board reads the release as an input to its cash rate decisions, and it publishes its own inflation forecasts in the quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy.

What time is it released and where?

Every Australia CPI release is published at 11:30am Canberra time on the scheduled day. Converted:

• Sydney/Melbourne/Canberra: 11:30am AEST (or AEDT from early October to early April)
• London: 2:30am when Australia is on AEST, 12:30am when Australia is on AEDT and the UK is on GMT
• New York: 9:30pm the previous evening during US daylight saving, when Australia is on AEST
• Singapore and Hong Kong: 9:30am AEST equivalent, mid-morning local

For the August 26, 2026 release that means 11:30am AEST in Sydney, 2:30am in London on August 26 and 9:30pm ET on Tuesday, August 25. Because the print lands overnight for European and American readers, the market reaction is usually visible in the Australian dollar and in Australian bond futures before London opens.

The data is published free of charge on the ABS website under Consumer Price Index, Australia, with a media release, a full statistical publication, downloadable time series spreadsheets and an API. The ABS operates a strict embargo: nothing is provided to media or markets in advance, and there is no lock-up. If the ABS website or API suffers an outage, the agency has a published contingency procedure for market-sensitive releases. Always check the ABS future releases calendar for the confirmed timing of any specific month.

Historical data

Recent annual inflation readings on the ABS measures. The complete Monthly CPI began with the October 2025 reference month, so comparisons with earlier monthly indicator readings are not exact.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics monthly and quarterly CPI releases. The June 2026 release also showed a quarterly CPI rise of 0.6% and a quarterly trimmed mean rise of 0.8%, with the monthly index down 0.1% in the month. The RBA’s Monetary Policy Board left the cash rate unchanged at 4.35% on August 11, 2026, its second consecutive hold after three increases in the first half of the year.

The pattern in that table matters more than any single row: headline inflation peaked at 4.6% in March 2026 and has eased for three consecutive months, largely on falling automotive fuel prices, while the trimmed mean has been sticky around 3.6%. That combination, cooling headline and stubborn core, is exactly what makes each new print market moving.

What is the consensus forecast?

For the July 2026 reference month released on August 26, 2026, a settled published consensus figure was not available from the major survey providers at the time of writing, so no consensus number is quoted here. Where forecasts are published, they usually come from Reuters and Bloomberg polls of economists and from the Australian major banks’ economics teams, and reputable coverage attributes them explicitly.

For context on how often the data surprises: in June 2026 the annual rate of 3.8% came in below the 4.0% the market expected, the trimmed mean at 3.6% undershot expectations of 3.7%, and the monthly index fell 0.1% against expectations of a 0.2% rise, according to Trading Economics’ record of market expectations. In May 2026 the annual rate of 4.0% also came in below the 4.4% expected. Two consecutive downside surprises are one reason economists had begun to question the case for further RBA tightening.

How do markets react?

Four markets respond within seconds of 11:30am AEST.

• The Australian dollar. Higher-than-expected inflation implies a higher-for-longer cash rate, which usually lifts AUD against the US dollar, the euro and the yen. A downside surprise typically does the opposite. AUD/USD and AUD/JPY are among the most actively traded pairs around this release.
• Australian government bonds. Three-year and 10-year Commonwealth Government Securities yields move first, because the three-year is most sensitive to the expected path of the cash rate. Hotter inflation pushes yields up and prices down.
• Cash rate expectations. Australian interest rate futures reprice the probability of a hike or cut at the next RBA meeting immediately. Bank economists then publish revised calls, sometimes within the hour.
• Equities. The S&P/ASX 200 tends to react through rate-sensitive sectors: banks, listed property trusts and consumer discretionary names. Mining and energy stocks are usually driven more by commodity prices than by domestic CPI.

The spillover beyond Australia is real but second order. New Zealand assets often move in sympathy, and Asian currency traders use the print as a read on regional services inflation. In London and New York the reaction is usually absorbed overnight, so European and US investors see the result rather than the volatility. Because the trimmed mean is the RBA’s preferred gauge, a release where headline and core move in opposite directions can produce a sharp initial move that partly reverses once desks read the detail.

What It Means for Your Money

If you live in Australia, this release is the clearest signal you get each month about the direction of your mortgage repayments. Australian home loans are mostly variable rate or fixed for only two or three years, so when the RBA moves the 4.35% cash rate, lenders typically pass it through within weeks. Inflation that keeps running above the 2% to 3% target makes a cut less likely and another rise more plausible; inflation that falls convincingly back towards the band opens the door to relief. On a A$600,000 loan, a 25 basis point change, that is a quarter of a percentage point, alters repayments by roughly A$90 a month.

Savers see the mirror image. High inflation and a high cash rate mean better term deposit and savings account rates, but what counts is the real return, meaning the interest rate minus inflation. With headline inflation at 3.8%, a savings account paying 4% is barely keeping your money’s purchasing power intact before tax.

Prices and bills are the most direct channel. Housing costs, including rents and electricity, have been the largest contributors to Australian inflation through 2026, and electricity in particular has been distorted by government rebates ending. If you are budgeting, the group-level detail in the ABS release tells you which of your own bills is doing the damage, which is more useful than the headline figure.

Jobs and wages follow with a lag. Persistent inflation tends to keep policy tight, which slows hiring; the unemployment rate was around 4.1% at the time of the August 2026 RBA decision. Many Australian pay awards, pensions and government payments are indexed to CPI, so the published figure feeds directly into next year’s income for a large number of households and retirees.

For investors and pension savers anywhere in the world, the practical points are simpler. A stronger Australian dollar raises the value of Australian shares held in a sterling, euro or dollar portfolio, and weakens it when AUD falls. Australian bond funds lose value when yields rise on a hot print. And if you hold a global equity or resources fund, Australian inflation is one input into a much wider picture, so a single monthly print is rarely a reason to change a long-term plan. UK and European readers should treat this release as a temperature check on global services and energy inflation rather than as a direct guide to Bank of England or European Central Bank decisions.

Related economic events

• US CPI report: the American consumer inflation release, the single most watched inflation print globally.
• US PCE report: the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, useful for comparing core inflation methodologies.
• US jobs report: monthly US employment data that sets the tone for global rate expectations.
• US GDP report: quarterly growth data that shapes the demand side of the inflation debate.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the next Australia CPI release?

Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at 11:30am AEST, covering the July 2026 reference month. That is 2:30am in London on August 26 and 9:30pm ET on Tuesday, August 25. The following release is scheduled for September 30, 2026.

What time is Australian inflation data published?

Always 11:30am Canberra time, AEST or AEDT depending on daylight saving. There is no media lock-up and no early access; the ABS publishes to everyone simultaneously.

How often is Australia CPI released?

Monthly. Since the complete Monthly CPI began with the October 2025 reference month, the ABS publishes a full monthly basket, with additional quarterly indexes included in the releases covering the final month of each quarter.

Where can I find the official release?

On the ABS website under Consumer Price Index, Australia, with a media release, full publication, time series spreadsheets and an API. Scheduled dates are confirmed on the ABS future releases calendar.

How does Australian CPI affect interest rates?

The RBA targets inflation of 2% to 3% on average over time. Inflation persistently above that band, as in 2026 with headline at 3.8% and the trimmed mean at 3.6%, argues for keeping the cash rate high; the Board held at 4.35% on August 11, 2026. A clear move back towards the target band would strengthen the case for cuts.