The September 2026 decision, in context
On Tuesday 29 September 2026 the Monetary Policy Board raised the cash rate target from 4.35 to 4.60 per cent, effective the next day. The decision was unanimous. The Board said inflation "remains elevated" and that some of the upside risks it flagged in August "are materialising", including much higher global energy prices. It left the door open to more: the Board "will continue to do what it considers necessary to bring inflation sustainably back to target, including increasing the cash rate target further if needed." Our full report on the decision.
Every decision this year, and the last few before it
The Board began 2026 at 3.60 per cent, after three cuts in 2025, and has raised the target at four of its six meetings since. Dates are the days each change took effect, as the Reserve Bank records them.
| Took effect | Change (points) | Cash rate target |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 2026 | +0.25 | 4.60% |
| 12 Aug 2026 | No change | 4.35% |
| 17 Jun 2026 | No change | 4.35% |
| 6 May 2026 | +0.25 | 4.35% |
| 18 Mar 2026 | +0.25 | 4.10% |
| 4 Feb 2026 | +0.25 | 3.85% |
| 10 Dec 2025 | No change | 3.60% |
| 5 Nov 2025 | No change | 3.60% |
| 1 Oct 2025 | No change | 3.60% |
| 13 Aug 2025 | -0.25 | 3.60% |
| 9 Jul 2025 | No change | 3.85% |
| 21 May 2025 | -0.25 | 3.85% |
What is the cash rate?
The cash rate is the interest rate banks charge each other for unsecured loans overnight. The Reserve Bank sets a target for it and uses its market operations to keep the actual rate on target. It is not a home loan rate, and nobody borrows to buy a house at 4.60 per cent. But it is the base that banks' own funding costs are built on, so when it moves, variable home loan rates usually follow within days or weeks.
Who decides, and when
Since 1 March 2025 the cash rate has been set by the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Board, chaired by the Governor, Michele Bullock. It meets eight times a year over two days and announces its decision at 2.30 pm Sydney time on the second day. Any change takes effect the next day. The next decision is at 2.30 pm AEDT on Tuesday 3 November 2026: all the meeting dates.
How a cash rate change reaches your home loan
Lenders decide for themselves whether to pass on a change. In 2026 each of the four rises has moved the big banks' standard variable rate by the same 0.25 points: the Reserve Bank's table of indicator rates shows it at 8.02 per cent in January and 8.77% by May, where it still stood in September 2026. The average rate on new owner-occupier variable loans rose from 5.51 per cent in January to 6.20% in August 2026, before the September rise. On a $600,000 loan over 30 years, a 0.25 point rise passed on in full adds about $98 a month. Repayments on a $500,000 loan.
The cash rate since 2007
The target reached 7.25 per cent in March 2008, just before the global financial crisis, and was cut to 3 per cent within a year. It fell almost every year of the 2010s, reached a record low of 0.10 per cent in November 2020, and then rose 13 times from May 2022 to November 2023, to 4.35 per cent. Three cuts in 2025 took it to 3.60 per cent before this year's rises. The full record since 1990, and the banks' rates back to 1959, are on our standard variable rate page.
Common questions
What is the RBA cash rate today?
4.60 per cent, from 30 September 2026.
Did the RBA increase interest rates?
Yes. On 29 September 2026 the Monetary Policy Board raised the cash rate target by 0.25 percentage points to 4.60 per cent, its fourth rise of 2026.
When is the next RBA decision?
At 2.30 pm AEDT on Tuesday 3 November 2026, at the end of the Board's 2 and 3 November meeting.
Is the cash rate the same as my home loan rate?
No. The cash rate is what banks charge each other overnight. Home loan rates sit well above it; the average new owner-occupier variable loan was written at 6.20% in August 2026.
Sources
- Reserve Bank of Australia, Cash Rate Target (every decision, date and target)
- RBA, Statement by the Monetary Policy Board: Monetary Policy Decision, media release 2026-27, 29 September 2026
- RBA, Monetary Policy Board (membership, Chair, meeting format)
- RBA, Board Meeting Schedules
- RBA statistical tables F5 (Indicator Lending Rates) and F6 (Housing Lending Rates)
General information only, not credit or financial advice. We are not a lender or a broker and hold no Australian Credit Licence. Rates shown are RBA market averages, not offers.