Latest news: Cost of living

Many Australians will struggle to make ends meet in an economic environment of rising interest rates and when their wages are failing to keep pace with rampant inflation.

Almost two-thirds of Australians say reducing the cost of living should be the next federal government’s top priority, according to new analysis from The Australian National University (ANU).

Australians are spending 40 per cent more for fuel than they were a year ago and Canberrans are spending an average of $381.59 per week on transport, the country's peak motoring body says.

Canberrans living on low incomes are being hit hardest by the biggest increase in cost of living in over 20 years, the 2022 ACT Cost of Living Report reveals.

The latest quarterly consumer price index shows food prices have experienced their largest inflation rise in more than 10 years.

The annual rate of inflation has soared to its highest level since 2001, fuelled by rising petrol prices and higher dwelling construction costs.

Inflation and increasing grocery and food prices are adversely affecting the cost of living for 62 per cent of Australians, a new survey has revealed.

Foremost in the Budget is what Treasurer Josh Frydenberg termed a “temporary, targeted, and responsible” cost of living package “to take pressure off household budgets”. The cost of living, he said, had risen due to the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine.