Michele Bullock: The evolution of household sector risks

Speech by Ms Michele Bullock, Assistant Governor (Financial System) of the Reserve Bank of Australia, at the Ai Group lunch, Albury-Wodonga, 10 September 2018.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Thank you for the invitation to speak at this Ai Group lunch. It is great to be back in regional Australia. I am responsible for the area of the Bank that focuses on financial stability. So my remarks today are going to cover one of the financial risks we have been focusing on over recent years – the high level of household debt in Australia. Household debt has been rising for a number of decades. How much of a concern is this? I am going to talk through the evolution of the current debt situation and how we see the current risks. Given that I am in Albury-Wodonga, I will finish with a few comments on housing markets and debt in regional Australia.