You have been hit by large rises in grocery, energy, transport, child and aged care prices, only adding to other cost of living pressures, according to a bombshell report. But the report argues the ongoing cost of living crisis is largely due to corporations unduly increasing prices.
As the Conversation reported, while extreme weather and supply delays have contributed to the increases, an inquiry into what’s causing the hikes has confirmed what commentators and consumers suspected – many sectors are resorting to dodgy price practices and confusing pricing.
Headed by the former Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) boss, Allan Fels, on behalf of the ACTU, the inquiry found inflation, questionable pricing practices, a lack of price transparency and regulations, a lack of market competition, supply chain problems and unrestricted price setting by retailers are to blame for fuelling the increases.
The inquiry, which released its final report on Wednesday, is one of four examining price rises. The other three are being undertaken by a Senate committee, the Queensland government and the ACCC, which has been given extra powers by the government.
The official inflation rate in Australia peaked at 7.8% in December 2022 and has been gradually dropping since then.
While the inquiry found higher prices contributed to inflation, it reported that businesses claimed it was inflation that caused price rises – making it a chicken-or-egg kind of problem.
However, many businesses made enormous profits in 2022-23, which the inquiry said contributed to rising prices and inflation. In most cases, post-pandemic profit margins were much higher than before the pandemic.
The current pricing practices for all business sectors must improve for greater transparency and to protect Australian consumers from unfair pricing.
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