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New research reveals a shift in the way Australians allocate their income, with 6 per cent of Australians with consumer debt deprioritising debt repayment, shifting to saving and day-to-day expenses.
Agile Market Intelligence has released results from its latest Consumer Pulse, which is a monthly tracker developed to monitor consumer sentiment, financial stress, and behavioural shifts across key household segments. The survey provides a real-time view of financial wellbeing in Australia, segmented by debt status and home ownership.
The latest data, covering August 2025, showed that debt-free and consumer debt-holding Australians prioritised saving, while mortgage holders continued to focus on debt repayments, while they increased day-to-day spending.
Pressure eased for Aussies in debt
Approximately more than a quarter of mortgage holders nominated saving as their primary focus for the past six months, the report found, and this figure remained relatively stable for August at 26 per cent.
“Paying off debt remains the leading priority, 63 per cent of households reporting it so,” it said. “This figure is down three per cent from July, and is the lowest observed since March.”
Research director at Agile, Michael Johnson, said: “Mortgage holders are still focused on reducing debt, but we’re starting to see signs of flexibility in their budgets. With rate cuts on the horizon, many are cautiously shifting attention toward household costs.”
Refocus on saving by consumer debt holders
In August, the largest shifts occurred – debt repayment as a priority dropped by 6 percentage points, and 25 per cent of consumer debt holders now “prioritise day-to-day expenses, up four per cent from July”, Agile said.
Savings became the top focus for Australians with consumer debt in August, at 38 per cent, beating debt repayments by 1 percentage point – a shift, after debt repayments came out on top last month.
“We’re seeing a turning point among consumer debt holders. Saving is now just as important as paying off debt, which suggests a growing sense of financial control, or at least the intent to get ahead,” said Johnson.
Debt-free Aussies still prioritising saving
The report described debt-free Australians as “households with no mortgage or consumer debt”. Agile found that, “62 per cent of mortgage-free and consumer debt-free Australians reported saving as their top financial priority, up from 56 per cent from July”.
“The shift is largely driven by a decline in prioritising day-to-day expenses, which is at the lowest point since March,” it also said.
With changes in the way that debt-free Australians distribute their income, the research also showed that: “This group is also the only demographic that reports an increase in debt repayment.”
Carlos Tse
Carlos Tse is a graduate journalist writing for Accountants Daily, HR Leader, Lawyers Weekly.
