Official inflation data + RBA forecast
A $60,000 salary in January 2021 needs to be ~$75,600 today to match the same real purchasing power. Most Australians have not seen their pay rise that much — see your exact gap.
ABS CPI history, RBA forecast through end-2028, and the 2024 tax cut added back — instant, private, free.
CPI pay rise 2026: 4.0%. That is the ABS annual inflation rate to August 2026. On an $80,000 salary, a pay rise that matches CPI is $3,200 a year, or about $123 a fortnight before tax.
Fair Work July 2026 update: award minimum rates rose 4.75% and the National Minimum Wage rose 6% to $26.44/hr ($1,004.90/week) from the first full pay period after 1 July 2026, covering about 2.8 million workers. With inflation at 4.0% (ABS, year to August 2026), that is a real-terms gain of about 0.75 points — enter your salary below to see whether your rise actually beats CPI.Inflation doesn't stop at your pay — it also indexes your HECS debt and eats into what your savings are really worth.
CPI is 4.0% for the year to August 2026 (ABS, released 30 September 2026). A pay rise that matches it adds this much, before tax.
| Salary now | CPI rise a year | A fortnight | After the rise |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $2,000 | $77 | $52,000 |
| $60,000 | $2,400 | $92 | $62,400 |
| $70,000 | $2,800 | $108 | $72,800 |
| $80,000 | $3,200 | $123 | $83,200 |
| $90,000 | $3,600 | $138 | $93,600 |
| $100,000 | $4,000 | $154 | $104,000 |
| $120,000 | $4,800 | $185 | $124,800 |
| $150,000 | $6,000 | $231 | $156,000 |
To work out your own: multiply your pay by 1.040. On an hourly wage, $30.00 becomes $31.20. That covers one year of inflation. If your last rise was longer ago, enter the date above and the calculator adds up every year since.
Gross figures, 26 fortnights a year. Source: ABS Consumer Price Index, annual change to August 2026. A CPI rise is not automatic: see the questions below.
How much your salary needs to have risen, by starting income — using national CPI compounded across the five financial years. The last column shows how much the July 2024 income tax cut adds back.
| Jan 2021 salary | Needed Aug 2026 | Worth in Jan 2021 dollars | Gap | Tax cut adds back |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $57,026 | $35,510 | −$12,026 | +$804 |
| $60,000 | $76,035 | $47,347 | −$16,035 | +$1,179 |
| $80,000 | $101,380 | $63,129 | −$21,380 | +$1,679 |
| $100,000 | $126,725 | $78,911 | −$26,725 | +$2,179 |
| $135,000 | $171,079 | $106,530 | −$36,079 | +$3,729 |
| $190,000 | $240,778 | $149,931 | −$50,778 | +$4,529 |
Calculated by compounding ABS All Groups CPI annual rates: 2021 (3.5%), 2022 (7.8%), 2023 (4.1%), 2024 (2.4%), 2025 (3.8%), 2026 (4.0%, year to August). The tax-cut figure uses the income tax brackets that took effect 1 July 2024. For Jan 2021 baselines, your real take-home gap is the cash gap MINUS the tax-cut restoration.
The math, plainly: for each year between your last pay rise and your comparison date, the calculator multiplies your salary by (1 + that year's CPI). Partial years use a daily fraction. The tax-cut figure is the difference between the income tax you would have paid under the pre-1-July-2024 brackets and the brackets that apply now at your current income — capped at the maximum legislated $4,529 per year for incomes above $190,000.
The calculator compounds Australia's annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate across each year between your last pay rise and your comparison date, using ABS All Groups CPI data (catalogue 6401.0) for historical periods and the RBA Statement on Monetary Policy forecast for future periods. The result is the salary you would need today to have the same real purchasing power as your original salary on the pay-rise date.
CPI (Consumer Price Index) measures changes in the prices of a basket of goods and services households consume — it tells you how much more expensive living got. WPI (Wage Price Index) measures changes in employer wage rates — it tells you how much more your peers got paid. When CPI rises faster than WPI, average real wages fall. From 2022 to 2024, Australian CPI rose by roughly 11.4% while WPI rose by 8.5% — a real-wage cut of roughly 2.9 percentage points for the average worker. Sources: ABS catalogue 6401.0 (CPI) and 6345.0 (WPI).
Partially. The Stage 3 tax cuts (in force since 1 July 2024) increased after-tax income by roughly $804 at $45k, $2,179 at $100k, and a capped maximum of $4,529 for incomes above $190k. For someone whose last pay rise was early 2021, inflation has cut the purchasing power of an unchanged salary by about 21% (prices up about 27%, ABS CPI, January 2021 to August 2026), while Stage 3 has restored 2-4% depending on income. The Stage 3 saving helps, but for most workers below $150k it does not fully offset the cumulative CPI hit between 2021 and 2026. The calculator toggles the Stage 3 overlay automatically when your last pay rise date is before 1 July 2024.
The most recent CPI annual rate published by the ABS is 4.0% (year to August 2026, released 30 September 2026), up from 3.5% in the year to July and 3.8% in the year to June. Trimmed mean (underlying) inflation held at 3.6% for the third month in a row. Housing (up 5.7%) and transport (up 5.6%, mostly fuel) were the largest contributors. This is above the RBA target band of 2-3%. The RBA's February 2026 Statement on Monetary Policy forecast CPI near 4% through end-2026, falling to around 2.4% by end-2027. On 29 September 2026 the RBA raised the cash rate to 4.60%, saying inflation is still too high and that it will raise the cash rate further if needed. The forecast track used by this calculator remains consistent with that guidance. The ABS publishes CPI every month; check the latest release at abs.gov.au.
Three steps backed by data: (1) Calculate your inflation-adjusted salary above — that's the dollar figure you'd need to be at parity. (2) Pull the Fair Work annual wage review and your industry's WPI growth (ABS 6345.0 publishes by industry) as a comparative reference. (3) Frame the request as real-income restoration, not a "rise". Present the year-on-year CPI accumulation alongside any productivity contribution you've made. Velofy doesn't provide industrial-relations advice — for complex situations consult your union (if covered) or Fair Work Commission free resources at fairwork.gov.au.
Yes — and it's a common surprise for graduates crossing the repayment threshold for the first time. Under the marginal system, HECS repayment starts at 15c per $1 above the threshold ($69,528 for 2026–27 income; it was $67,000 for 2025–26 returns). A pay rise from $69k to $79k triggers a roughly $1,420 annual HECS repayment that wasn't there at the lower salary. The next band kicks in at $129,717 (17c per $1 above it), and above $186,050 you pay 10% of total income. Run the exact dollar impact at your post-rise income with the Velofy HECS repayment calculator — it shows annual repayment, monthly PAYG withholding, and payoff timeline at current 2.8% indexation.
The CPI gap is one input. The full picture also includes super contribution rate (Job A 12% SGC vs Job B 13% can be worth $30,000+ over a 30-year career), bonus reliability (a "$10k bonus" target with 60% historical hit rate is worth $6k, not $10k), salary packaging (FBT-exempt healthcare workers get up to $11,660 tax-free; PBI charity workers up to $18,550), and commute / leave / flexibility deltas. Velofy's Job Offer Comparison Calculator runs the full after-tax + super + bonus-weighted + packaging maths side-by-side and outputs the 30-year retirement-balance gap from the difference. Pair it with this CPI calculator to see whether either offer keeps up with inflation in real terms.
The Fair Work Commission's 2026 Annual Wage Review lifted the National Minimum Wage by 6% to $26.44 per hour ($1,004.90 for a 38-hour week), effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Modern award minimum rates rose by a separate 4.75%, covering approximately 2.8 million award-reliant workers — about 21% of the workforce. With CPI at 4.0% for the year to August 2026 (ABS catalogue 6401.0), the award increase is a real-terms gain of about 0.75 percentage points, and the minimum wage increase a clearer one, about 2 points. If your rise landed this July, enter it above to see the real-income result — and check what the higher salary does to your tax with the Velofy Tax Calculator.
Yes, but by a narrower margin than in July. CPI rose to 4.0% for the year to August 2026 (ABS, released 30 September 2026), so a 4.75% award rise beats current inflation by about 0.75 percentage points, down from 1.25 points when CPI was 3.5% in the year to July. The 6% rise in the National Minimum Wage clears it by about 2 points. For workers whose last real pay rise was in early 2021, prices have risen about 27% since January 2021 on the CPI rates this calculator uses, so a single 4.75% increase leaves a large real-income shortfall. Use the calculator above with your actual last pay-rise date to see your personal gap.
A pay rise that matches CPI is 4.0% right now. That is the ABS annual inflation rate for the year to August 2026, released 30 September 2026. On an $80,000 salary it is $3,200 a year, or about $123 a fortnight before tax. The ABS publishes a new figure every month, so a rise agreed later in the year may use a different number.
No. There is no general rule that your pay must rise with CPI. Your employer has to increase your pay when the award rate or the National Minimum Wage that applies to you goes up, which happens each 1 July after the Fair Work Commission’s annual wage review, or when your enterprise agreement or employment contract says so. Some agreements and contracts include a CPI clause; many do not. If you are paid above the award, your pay has to stay at or above the new minimum. Check your award, agreement or contract, or ask the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Multiply your current pay by the CPI rate. At 4.0%, multiply by 1.040: $80,000 becomes $83,200, and $30.00 an hour becomes $31.20. If your last rise was more than a year ago, one year of CPI will not catch you up. Enter the date of your last rise in the calculator above and it compounds inflation across the whole period.
Employees paid award minimum rates. The Fair Work Commission’s 2026 annual wage review lifted minimum award wages by 4.75% from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026, covering about 2.8 million workers. The National Minimum Wage, for employees not covered by an award or enterprise agreement, rose to $26.44 an hour. If you are on an enterprise agreement or paid above the award, the 4.75% does not apply automatically, but your base rate cannot be less than the award rate.