BACKGROUND
3.1 The CPI is released on a quarterly basis, on the fourth Wednesday following the reference quarter. The frequency of Australian CPI releases was investigated as part of the review to gauge if the quarterly periodicity still meets Australia's needs.
3.2 Australia is one of only two Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, and the only G-20 (Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors) country that does not produce a monthly CPI.
3.3 Australia is a subscriber to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS) which sets guidelines for the compilation of statistics for those countries which wish to access international capital markets. The standards recommend that the CPI should be produced monthly. Australia exercises a flexibility option to maintain a quarterly periodicity for the CPI. International Labour Organization (ILO) guidelines also recommend monthly compilation, but allow the index to be produced less frequently if the country lacks the resources or if there is negligible user demand (ILO, 2004).
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