Australians are struggling to keep pace with the cost of living, with some essentials becoming increasingly out of reach.
One Brisbane mum of two teenagers says she spends up to $400 on her weekly shop after visiting different supermarkets and searching for items on sale.
“Even in the last six months I have noticed we are spending a lot more each week,” she said.
Since 2022, there have been multiple inquiries into the climbing price of groceries – the latest in Queensland, which has released its final report.
But with the costs continuing to outweigh inflation, whether yet another inquiry will help customers at the check-out is yet to be seen.
University of Technology Sydney Associate Professor Sanjoy Paul said improving transparency and helping customers understand pricing decisions was key to maintaining trust.
“Nobody is talking about how products and materials are flowing from suppliers to customers and prices are changing there,” he said.
Reputations take a ‘battering’, but questions remain over price impact
The spotlight on the supermarket industry this year has seen the federal government commit to making the Food and Grocery Code mandatory.
This will see large supermarket chains fined for mistreating suppliers and was one of the recommendations made after an independent review by former Labor minister Craig Emerson.
The move was backed by the senate committee on supermarket prices, which handed down its report in May.
However, that committee fell short of deciding whether to allow the federal court to break up supermarket monopolies.
Another inquiry being led by the ACCC, which is focusing on competition in the industry and how items are priced, will release its final report next year.
Swinburne University of Technology corporate governance specialist Helen Bird said the various inquiries put pressure on supermarkets to maintain their reputation and standing in the community.
However, she said whether it would lead to cheaper prices was unclear.
“I think the reputation of supermarkets has taken something of a battering in consequence of that, but the actual impact on prices I think one would have to question,” she said.
“It is hard to assess whether it has had a direct response, but we did notice in the weeks leading up to and around those [senate committee] hearings there was a lot of consciousness about pricing and sales.”
Dr Paul said while multiple inquiries allowed for the voices of different stakeholders to be heard, it would be all for nothing unless the recommendations were implemented.
Transparency crucial without ability to control prices
In Queensland, an interim Food Farmer’s Commissioner will be appointed off the back of its inquiry after stakeholders expressed concern over the gap between retail and farmgate prices.
The role has been created to help address the imbalance of power between producers and supermarkets and provide a safe environment for complaints to be considered.
Dr Paul said the decision was a positive step for helping improve transparency and understanding the experience of suppliers.
“When we don’t understand how the price is changing and every step of the supply chain it is easy to raise questions,” he said.
“We don’t have any law or rules to control the pricing, so that’s why this solution could help you to improve transparency.
“But how that will help to improve transparency and ending up with reducing the price at the consumer rate it is not clear.”
Dr Paul said inquiries were falling short of making recommendations designed to specifically help Australians struggling with the cost of their weekly bill.
“I could not find any report that made a suggestion specifically for pricing to help consumers,” he said.
Australia does not have any laws or rules to control pricing, he said, adding that monitoring and reporting changes was not enough.
A recent survey of 1000 people by the Queensland Council of Unions found 52 per cent of respondents said they were unable to afford basic grocery items such as bread, milk, cheese and eggs in the previous six months.
One man who spoke to the ABC on the streets of Brisbane said the cost of his weekly shop had risen to $250.
“That’s just for me alone,” he said.
Competition needs to be a ‘priority’ for real change
The Queensland committee has recommended the government consider how planning guidelines could generate more competition in the sector.
In 2023, an inquiry by Australian Council of Trade Unions found there was insufficient competition.
Dr Paul said increasing competition was the only way to reduce prices and bring benefits to customers.
“Increasing competition should be the most significant priority at the moment,” he said.
When it comes to how prices are determined, Ms Bird said it is not just about the supply chain, but the conduct inside the management of a company.
“We haven’t got into how exactly money is transferred around the group to see whether or not there are issues there, but maybe that is the sort of thing future inquiries could do,” she said.
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Prices will never come down.
They’re enjoying too much their super profits!
Profits announced this week:
Coles $1.1 Billion
Woolies $1.7 Billion
AND THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO REDUCE PRICES ????????????