What is the typical household?

The hypothetical household

For the purposes of this report, the term typical household refers to a hypothetical household as defined below.

The hypothetical household is a couple with children, the most common type of household in Australia according to the 2016 census. This couple consists of a 38-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man, which are the average ages for men and women in Australia. They are both employed and they live in a detached house. They two mid-range, high-selling cars – a near-new car financed with a variable-rate car loan and an older car owned outright. Both vehicles are roadworthy and registered.  

The households in each capital city and benchmark regional centre are identical in almost all respects to enable ready comparison. But their transport costs differ based on where they live. Their assumed vehicle and public usage can also vary in some respects based on known local differences. 

City household

In each city, the hypothetical household is assumed to live in middle to outer ring suburbs with relatively high population density, good access to public transport.

In the Q3 2024 Transport Affordability Index, the typical Brisbane and Melbourne households’ assumed use of toll roads were changed from five return trips to two return trips each week to align them with the Sydney household.

In addition, the Index’s method for calculating comprehensive car insurance costs was broadened to cover substantially more data points from market-leading insurers.

A typical Australian passenger vehicle is driven 13,800 kilometres per year and is 9.8 years old. Correspondingly, for the city household, the model assumes that the household’s two motor vehicles are driven 15,000 and 10,000 kilometres per year. The car that drives 10,000 kilometres per year is assumed to be 10 years old and owned outright. The car that drives 15,000 kilometres per year is assumed to be a near-new vehicle and financed with a car loan.

In addition, one member of the household is assumed to travel by public transport into the CBD and home again, five days per week.

Regional household

There are key differences between metropolitan and regional households transport costs. The Index assumes that the regional household:

• has different commuting distances and patterns than its state capital counterpart (which are specific for the respective areas)
• generally pays more for petrol than its capital city counterpart
• on average, earns less than its capital city counterpart
• pays less for registration and insurance as most jurisdiction offer lower premiums in regional areas
• doesn’t pay tolls
• doesn’t have public transport as there is little or no availability in regional areas.

The regional locations chosen for analyses were selected as they have populations of over 10,000 people, have relatively dense population (at the SA2 ABS level), have ages similar to the average ages in the hypothetical city household, have a reasonable proportion of detached housing and have a substantial proportion of couple family households with children. Because of the ACT’s small size and a lack of discernible differences in costs between suburbs, a regional location has not been included for that jurisdiction.

The regional locations included for comparison include:

• Wagga Wagga, NSW
• Geelong, Victoria
• Townsville, Queensland
• Bunbury, Western Australia
• Mount Gambier, South Australia
• Launceston, Tasmania
• Alice Springs, Northern Territory