Australia’s cost of living: How discretionary spending distorts

Many Australians blame food for the rise in the cost of living, but entertainment costs have nearly tripled in the past half-century.

Entertainment costs have nearly tripled in the past half-century, with stadium concerts and football finals fuelling the inflation bubble.

A generational comparison of prices by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals the proportion of household expenditure spent on “recreation and culture” has risen from 3.2 per cent of average spending in 1960 to 11.8 per cent today.

Football fans who paid 80 cents for a standing-room ticket to watch Richmond beat Carlton in the 1973 VFL grand final, should only be paying $11 for 2023 AFL premiership tickets, not $155 for standard entry into the MCG this year.

Number crunchers at the ABS also examined the cost of concert tickets. A ticket to see Liverpool’s Fab Four at Festival Hall cost $3.70 in 1964 — the equivalent of $62.60 in today’s currency.

A recent tour by Paul McCartney cost Melbourne concert goers at least $150, with most tickets to Docklands Stadium upwards of $200. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift’s much-publicised tour has tickets selling from $80 to $1250 — with the average hovering around the $300 mark.

While concert prices attract publicity, cultural changes have altered the way Australians spend their free time — from internet and television streaming to the increased frequency of dining out — have changed significantly since the 1970s.

Taylor Swift is heading to Melbourne next year.

National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke said while he sympathised with those struggling with the cost of living, the data showed food wasn’t the main culprit.

“There’s a lot of attention on the cost of milk or the cost of ham in the lead up to Christmas. But as farmers, we need to emphasise the value of farming and the contribution agriculture makes to feeding the nation and the world,” he said.

“There are a lot of costs now that weren’t around (in 1973) like mobile phones, television streaming, new technology.

“In many respects, the cost of food has remained the same but the cost of producing it — through fuel, electricity, labour — hasn’t (kept pace).”