The CPI is a quarterly measure of the change in average price levels. It provides a method of comparing the average price level for a quarter with the average price level of other periods such as the reference base year, or other quarters. Changes in the average price level between periods can be calculated from their respective index levels.
The CPI aims to measure only pure price changes. In other words, it is concerned with isolating and measuring only that element of price change which is not caused by any change to either the quantity or the quality of the goods or services concerned (i.e. it aims to measure, each quarter, the change in the cost of acquiring an identical basket of goods and services). This involves evaluating any changes in the quality of goods and services included in the index and removing the effects of such changes from the prices used to construct the index.
The CPI measures changes in the prices actually paid by consumers for the goods and services they buy. It is not concerned with nominal, recommended or list prices (unless they are the prices consumers actually pay).
The CPI basket includes goods and services ranging from steak to motor cars and from dental fillings to restaurant meals. The items are chosen not only because they represent the spending habits of the CPI population group, but also because the items are those for which the prices can be associated with identifiable and specific commodities and services. While government taxes and charges which are associated with the use of specific goods and services (such as excise and customs duties, goods and services taxes, local government rates, etc.) are included, income taxes and the income-related Medicare levy are excluded because they cannot be clearly associated with the purchase or use of a specific quantity of any good or service.
Items are not excluded from the CPI basket on the basis of moral or social judgements. For example, some people may regard the use of tobacco and alcohol as socially undesirable, but these commodities are included in the CPI basket because they are significant items of household expenditure and their prices can be accurately measured. However, to assist in understanding the effect that major item groups have on the CPI, the ABS publishes a range of supplementary indexes which exclude, in turn, each of the eleven major commodity groups. These supplementary indexes can also be used in their own right for evaluating price changes, or for indexation purposes.
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