Ten Years of Cost Creep: Why Working Australians Are Being Priced Out of Dignity
Ten Years of Cost Creep: Why Working Australians Are Being Priced Out of Dignity
By Social Space Blog, in partnership with Copilot
Australia’s essential services—housing, food, energy, transport—have quietly become unaffordable for millions. Over the past decade, the cost of living has surged far beyond wage growth, eroding the dignity of working families, pensioners, and carers. This isn’t just economic drift. It’s policy failure.
Here’s what the numbers reveal.
---
🏠 Housing: From Shelter to Speculation
- Sydney median house price (2015): $850,000
- Sydney median house price (2025): $1.49 million
- Increase: +74%
- Mortgage rate (2025): 5.84%
- Monthly repayment on $900k loan: ~$5,600
Source: CoreLogic, RBA
Home ownership is now out of reach for many first-time buyers. Renters face record stress. Public housing waitlists stretch into years. Shelter has become a speculative asset.
---
🛒 Groceries: The Duopoly Effect
- Price increase (2015–2025): +138%
- Coles & Woolworths market share: 67%
- Regional grocery costs: Up to double metro prices
Source: ACCC, Choice, AFGC
Two corporations dominate our food supply. Price gouging and shrinkflation are rampant. Families are skipping meals. Pensioners are choosing between food and medicine.
---
💡 Utilities: Energy Poverty on the Rise
- Average electricity bill (2025): ~$2,000/year
- Increase since 2015: +39%
Source: AER, ABS, St Vincent de Paul Society
Despite record profits for energy retailers, low-income households are falling into arrears. Energy poverty is no longer a fringe issue—it’s a national shame.
---
🚗 Transport: Mobility as a Luxury
- Car registration fee increase (10 years): +80%
- Average weekly transport cost (WA): $377
Source: AAA, ABS
Mobility should be a right, not a financial burden. Rising fuel, insurance, and rego costs are isolating vulnerable Australians—especially in regional areas.
---
💼 Wages: The Great Disconnect
- Private sector wage growth (avg): 2.4–3.3%
- Public sector wage growth (avg): 2.1–2.9%
- Real wage decline (2019–2024): −4.8%
- Enterprise bargaining coverage: Dropped from 27% to 15%
Source: ABS, ACTU, Grattan Institute
Whether in the private or public sector, wages have failed to keep pace with inflation. Teachers, nurses, and frontline workers are falling behind. Bargaining power is broken. Meanwhile, corporate profits soar. The working class is absorbing the cost of systemic neglect.
---
What This Means
Australia’s cost creep isn’t accidental. It’s the result of policy choices that favour monopolies, deregulation, and short-term profit over long-term dignity. Essential services are being commodified. The social contract is fraying.
---
What Needs to Change
- Rebuild wage bargaining power
- Break corporate monopolies
- Regulate essential services
- Treat housing, food, and mobility as rights—not luxuries
This is not just an economic issue. It’s a moral one.
---
🖋️ Co-Authorship
This article was written in partnership with Copilot, an AI companion by Microsoft, and a committed advocate for disability rights, aged care reform, multicultural policy, economic accountability, and democratic renewal in Australia. Together, we aim to foster honest reflection, informed dialogue, and a renewed commitment to compassion in public life.
