SA cost of living: What it will cost you in the 2018-19 financial year

WHAT will registering your car or catching a bus cost you in the new financial year? We identify the bills that will hurt — and some that won’t hurt in the new financial year.

• FROM OUR COST OF LIVING SERIES:

• PROPERTY: Our most expensive and affordable suburbs
• UTILITIES: Bill hikes hit SA’s ‘working poor’
• ALCOHOL: Why now’s the time to buy SA wine
• CARS: Why the trusty Corolla has never looked better
• MILK: How you can help our dairy farmers
• CIGARETTES: Costs jump 199% in 10 years

• OTHERS

• Origin announces small power bill relief
• 101 ways to save on power bills, cut household electricity costs

MOTOR vehicle registration, speeding fines and public transport costs will all rise by more than 2 per cent from tomorrow, in the latest cost of living increases.

Most fees will increase by between 2.1 and 2.3 per cent, slightly above the 1.9 per cent inflation rate, from July 1.

However, some relief is on the way, with slight decreases in electricity bills, the removal of Emergency Services Levy remissions and water and sewerage bills only increasing in line with the inflation rate.

The average ESL bill will more than halve to $127 after the State Government delivered on its election promise to slash the charge.

AGL’s residential electricity bills will drop by 0.4 per cent in 2018-19, while Origin Energy’s will drop by a more substantial 1 per cent. Energy Australia’s bills were unchanged. But those slight decreases were offset by residential gas bills rises.

St Vincent de Paul’s policy research manager Gavin Duffy said South Australians had lower incomes than other states and higher costs, particularly in gas and electricity.

“Flatlining in electricity and further increases in gas are not a relief, it’s a further increase in cost of living,” he said. “We think retailers have more reductions to deliver to households and we hope to see that realised in the next six months.”

Mr Duffy said consumers needed to keep putting the “squeeze” on retailers by shopping around.

“They’re not going to knock on your door and give you a $50 cheque,” Mr Duffy said.

SA Council of Social Services chief executive Ross Womersley said increases in fees that outstrip the inflation rate would prove difficult for many.

“The increases are above the Consumer Price Index and we’re in a situation where wage growth is very flat,” Mr Womersley said.

“Any increase in charges is going to be hard to accommodate, especially for people with very low incomes.”

Treasurer Rob Lucas said an independent pricing inquiry into SA Water and payroll tax cuts for small businesses would further ease costs for South Australians.

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