Enter a salary or dollar amount and the financial year it is from, and the calculator converts it to today's dollars using official ABS Consumer Price Index data. An optional section lets you enter your current salary to see whether your real purchasing power has grown or fallen since then, with a chart showing how prices have risen over time.

How is the inflation adjustment calculated?

The tool uses ABS Consumer Price Index (CPI) index levels for each financial year, not summed annual percentages. It divides the CPI value for the current year (FY2024-25) by the CPI value for the year you selected, then multiplies your salary by that ratio. This index-ratio method gives an accurate result over long periods - summing annual percentages would understate the true cumulative change.

What does today's dollars mean?

It means the amount of money you would need today to buy the same goods and services that your past salary could buy at the time. For example, if groceries and rent that cost $50,000 in 2010 now cost $70,000, a $50,000 salary from 2010 is worth $70,000 in today's dollars. It is a measure of purchasing power, not of wage growth.

Why does the tool use financial years instead of calendar years?

The ABS publishes CPI data by quarter (September, December, March, June). A financial year average - the mean of all four quarters - gives a stable, representative figure for that year. Using financial years also aligns with how most Australians receive their tax assessments and pay summaries, making it easier to match a salary to the correct period.

Does this account for my actual pay rises?

No. The tool shows what purchasing power your original salary represents in today's dollars based on CPI data alone. It does not know about any pay rises you received between then and now. The optional comparison section lets you enter your current salary to see how it compares to the inflation-adjusted equivalent - giving you a picture of how your real purchasing power has changed.

How current is the data?

This tool uses ABS CPI data through June 2025, covering the FY2024-25 financial year average. That is the most recent complete financial year available at the time this tool was built. The data is sourced from the ABS Consumer Price Index, Australia (Cat. 6401.0), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

What is included in the CPI measure?

The CPI used here is the All Groups weighted average for eight capital cities, which covers a broad basket of goods and services including food, housing, transport, health, education, and recreation. It is a general measure of consumer price changes and may not match your personal experience of price changes if your spending patterns differ significantly from the national average.