Unsurprisingly, following a rate rise last week and sky-high fuel prices, consumer confidence is looking a bit grim this week. Both survey out today paint the same dour picture:
Westpac–Melbourne Institute, October 2026:
📉 Consumer Sentiment fell to 80.4 (⬇️ 4.7%) (Respondents surveyed after the hike came in at 67.2, against 86.9 before it!) 📉 Family finances compared with a year ago fell to 66.9 (⬇️ 8.0%) 📉 Time to buy a major household item fell to 83.0 (⬇️ 7.1%)
ANZ-Roy Morgan, week to 5 October 2026:
📉 Consumer Confidence fell to 67.1 (⬇️ 3.4 pts) 📉 56% say their family is worse off than a year ago (⬆️ 6 %) 📉 Just 14% say now is a good time to buy major household items (⬇️ 2 %) 📉 Confidence fell across all housing cohorts, with renters falling hardest
Give the economic headwinds facing households, none of this is particulate surprising. We’ve had a long run of excess inflation, flat or falling real wages, and that’s now been capped off with the highest interest rates in more than a decade and fuel prices near all times highs.
Unfortunately, these kinds of confidence downturns become a form of self fulfilling prophecy. Households feel pressured, they sensibly pull back spending, which slow the economy, which put pressure on business and households…
Until we get some kind of relief, either from inflation slowing so the RBA can start cutting rates, or the middle east crisis ending so fuel prices can fall (or hopefully both), things are unlikely to get better.