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RBA Cash Rate vs Inflation: Why the Board Moves When It Does
How the RBA's cash rate decisions affect fixed and variable home loan rates, and what break fees mean for borrowers.
Reserve Bank of Australia · cash rate target
4.35% — held on 12 Aug 2026
This is the rate the Reserve Bank sets, not the rate a lender charges you. Everything a borrower pays sits above it, by a margin each lender chooses and revises on its own schedule — which is why the number below matters more than the one on any advertisement.
| Decision date | Change | Cash rate target |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Aug 2026 | no change | 4.35% |
| 17 Jun 2026 | no change | 4.35% |
| 6 May 2026 | +25 bp | 4.35% |
| 18 Mar 2026 | +25 bp | 4.10% |
| 4 Feb 2026 | +25 bp | 3.85% |
| 10 Dec 2025 | no change | 3.60% |
| 5 Nov 2025 | no change | 3.60% |
| 1 Oct 2025 | no change | 3.60% |
Source: Reserve Bank of Australia — Cash Rate Target. Read from the source 17 Aug 2026. Every figure on this page is rebuilt from that page — none of it is typed in by hand. Full decision history ›
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