NAB data: Australians cutting back on car use, visiting doctor to cope with cost of living

Australians are cutting back on using their car and putting off doctor visits to cope with high inflation, new data reveals.

A National Australia Bank survey shows eight in 10 Australians are reporting higher living costs, with 54 per cent of those surveyed cutting back on driving their car as 28 per cent reduced health visits.

Stress levels are higher among lower-income households, people with children, those aged 30-49 and residents of regional areas, with many resorting to borrowing from family and friends.

“Some are using savings more rapidly, borrowing from family or friends, selling possessions, taking on additional work or drawing down on longer-term financial resources,” NAB said.

“Consumer perceptions of rising costs are not just about the absolute dollar amount, but also the feeling of financial pressure, creating a sense of stress.”

The NAB survey results for the March quarter were released as One Nation leader Pauline Hanson cited the Salvation Army’s Red Shield report from May showing one in five people who had sought relief from the charity had eaten food from a rubbish bin during the past year, as a third survived on one meal a day.

“I think this is very important what I’ve just said and I want you, the people here, and the people watching this — 35 per cent of parents said their children had gone to school hungry,” she told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

“How can we, as members of Parliament, who are supposed to represent the people of this nation, allow that to happen? It is disgraceful.”

Senator Hanson blamed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for worsening poverty with high immigration.

“And yet this Albanese Labor Government cannot help our own people here but keeps bringing in more into the country and floods this country time and time and time again,” she said.

She also slammed Labor’s plan to scrap negative gearing for existing homes, bought after Budget night, from July 2027, arguing it would push up rents, with SQM Research data this week showing a 1.2 per cent national rental vacancy rate in May and Cotality figures showing just 1 per cent of suburbs offered positively-geared cash flow for investors.

“So, there is a housing crisis, but the not-so-smart thinkers in the Albanese Government make changes to negative gearing,” Senator Hanson said.

“If you make a change to negative gearing, investment will move away from housing - that is common sense but common sense is not common and what will this do to the rental market?”

Senator Hanson argued scrapping multicultural broadcaster SBS and restricting ABC funding to regional outlets, outside a subscription model for city viewers, would save more than a billion dollars a year that could fund anti-poverty and homelessness programs.

“We have to bring down prices, we really do. Look after these centres like the Salvos to be able to provide for families out there,” she said.

“Ensure that kids going to school have a pair of shoes, have a uniform.”

The Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s biggest home lender, is now expecting falling house prices to weigh on consumer spending and spark an economic slowdown.

While the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates on hold on Tuesday at 4.35 per cent, the three increases in February, March and May are expected to slow spending in the second half of 2026.

Belinda Allen, the Commonwealth Bank’s head of Australian economics, said Labor’s proposed changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax were likely to add as a drag on consumer spending, as house prices flatlined in 2026, led by declines in Sydney and Melbourne.

“We do think it’s going to have an impact. We do think there is a wealth effect,” she told The Nightly.

“It’s because of a number of factors: higher interest rates, sentiment challenges, housing affordability challenges as well as the housing tax policy changes.”

This raised the risk of an economic slowdown, without causing a recession.

“Household are having to make choices about what they’re willing to spend money on, where they’re willing to cut back,” she said.

“If we look at the data overall, we are certainly seeing spending soften compared to where we were in late 2025.

“We don’t think there’s a recession in Australia, we are expecting a slowdown.”

House prices last month fell in Sydney and Melbourne which the Commonwealth Bank predicted would act as a further drag on consumer spending, with new customer data showing a decline in five out of 12 categories in May.

“Falling home prices are emerging as a new weight on spending,” it said.

New data from consumer credit check group Equifax also showed a 10.9 per cent year-on-year decline in overall demand for overall mortgages when May 2026 was compared with the same month in 2025.