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This was published 11 months ago
Australians are tipping more generously and more often
By Jessica Yun
The willingness of Australians to tip has not been dented by higher food and petrol costs and rising rents, with the average national gratuity sitting at $17.93, up 12 per cent from $16.05 the year before.
Not only are Australians tipping more generously, according to payment platform Zeller’s latest tipping trends report, we’re also twice as likely to tip, with the volume of gratuities to total transactions increasing by 132 per cent since January 2022.
Melburnians tend to be more generous than Sydneysiders, adding $18.57 to the total bill compared with $11.81. Regional Australians were particularly willing to open up their wallets: their average tip rose 79 per cent to $16.07, compared with a 12 per cent increase among metropolitan customers to $18.08.
Australians appear to be tipping more, despite cost of living pressures.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Zeller director of growth Joshua McNicol said he was surprised to see an increase in tipping.
“Given the rising cost of living and economic pressures on consumers, the trend of increasing average value of tips going up 12 per cent year-on-year – despite interest rate pressures – was one that definitely caught us off guard,” he said.
Inflation rose 6 per cent between the June quarter 2022 and the June quarter in 2023, during which households struggled with 11 interest rate rises and higher prices at the checkout. Petrol prices are hovering around $2 a litre or more, threatening to push inflation even higher and prompting speculation the Reserve Bank may not yet be done with rate increases.
However, spending on recreation – this year including FIFA Women’s World Cup and Hollywood blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer – has remained resilient.
Zeller’s data shows that while tips for the overall hospitality sector have risen 11 per cent, tipping hasn’t increased across the board. Bar and club staff saw a 23 per cent decline to $10.21, while tips for coffee shops slid 19 per cent to $2.94.
Meanwhile, employees at sit-down restaurants and takeaway eateries are being rewarded, with these establishments experiencing an 8 per cent increase to $19.98 and a 6 per cent rise to $7.52 respectively.
“With your cost of living increase, people are going out less often [but] looking for a great experience at a sit-down restaurant,” McNicol said. “The willingness to reward amazing service or great experience hasn’t changed, but potentially the frequency they’re doing it has changed. It’s a really great thing because it shows that we still have a sense of generosity and community overall.”
Tips for beauty businesses more than doubled (121 per cent) to add an average of 21.3 per cent to the total bill, overtaking every other category.
Melburnians appear to be the nation’s most generous tippers at an average $18.57, followed by Brisbane at $14.02. Residents in Sydney and Adelaide leave an average of $11.81 and $9.93 on the bill. Perth residents tend to tip the least, at $8.85.
Zeller was unable to provide data on Hobart, Canberra and Darwin before time of publishing.
Regional Australia’s 79 per cent increase may be reflective of a higher influx of visitors and a pick-up in domestic tourism.
“Great dining and great hospitality isn’t just centred in metro areas any more – you’ve got fine dining and amazing bars scattered across regional [Australia] as well,” McNichol said.
He said the tipping culture in Australia had grown, with younger demographics more likely to tip.
“Tipping is fuelled by changing cultural norms. We’re adopting trends that are very popular in the US,” he said.
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