RBA raised the cash rate to 4.60% on 29 September 2026 — what to do before your repayment changes

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The Reserve Bank raised the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.60% on 29 September 2026. The RBA site lists that target as effective from 30 September 2026. The decision was unanimous. That is the fact. Your home-loan repayment is a separate fact, and it does not change at 2:31pm.

Update, Saturday 10 October 2026. CommBank’s rate announcement confirms its variable home-loan rates rose 0.25% p.a. effective Friday 9 October 2026. Existing customers can see the new rate in the app and NetBank from Saturday 10 October, and P&I customers whose repayment is changing see the new amount in their transaction list from Sunday 11 October. CommBank says it gives notice before the new amount takes effect and will automatically increase a direct debit that no longer covers the minimum. Other lenders run their own dates.

Update, Thursday 1 October 2026. Mortgage Professional Australia reported that CBA, Westpac, NAB and ANZ will pass the 0.25 percentage point increase on in full, with variable home-loan rates changing from 9 October 2026. Those are advertised book moves as reported that day, not a quote for the loan in your app. August CPI, released the morning after the vote, rose to 4.0% on the ABS annual measure. The next cash-rate update on the RBA site is 2:30pm on 3 November 2026.

General information only — not personal credit advice, and not a promise that your lender will match the cash rate.

If you saved this page before the meeting, the pre-decision checklist did its job. The work now is the letter, the budget, and whether a switch still makes sense once the new rate is on paper. Background: August hold playbook · July CPI checklist · what to do when the rate-rise letter arrives.

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What the Board actually decided

Media release 2026-27 is short enough to read. The parts that matter for a mortgage file:

• The cash rate target is 4.60%, up 25 basis points.
• The vote was unanimous.
• Inflation is still too high. The Board said some upside risks flagged in August are materialising: broader conflict in the Middle East, energy prices above the August forecasts, and higher prices for technology-related goods.
• Recent Australian inflation was stronger than the Board expected at the previous meeting.
• Housing prices have fallen in most capitals and new housing loans have declined. The Board still judged that a further tightening was warranted.
• It will increase the cash rate further if needed to bring inflation back to target.

A hold in August was not the end of the cycle. September was the fourth tightening step of 2026. The statement still leaves November open. It does not tell you to fix, sell, or refinance.

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The clocks that still matter

Three dates, three different things: the day the rate applies, the day you can see it, and the day the repayment is debited. The last one is the one the budget cares about, and it is the one lenders give written notice for. CommBank says it will automatically lift a direct debit that no longer covers the new minimum — check whether yours does the same.

If you only do four things this fortnight: read your lender’s effective date, put the new repayment next to the bills, ask for any retention offer in writing, and refuse a refinance quote that only looks cheaper because the term was reset to 30 years.

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August inflation — the number the Board did not have

The ABS August release, published 30 September 2026:

Housing was still the heavy annual group. Inside it, electricity rose 13.2% over the year, which the ABS linked largely to the end of Commonwealth electricity rebates, and rents rose 3.6%. Transport rose 4.2% in the month. Fuel’s monthly jump was oil prices plus the last of the fuel-excise relief unwinding.

Trimmed mean did not re-accelerate. Headline did, mostly through items the Board had already named as upside risks. That is why a 4.0% print the morning after a hike is context for November, not a surprise rewrite of Tuesday’s vote.

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What the major banks have said about your rate

Pass-through is not automatic. On 1 October 2026, Mortgage Professional Australia reported that all four majors will pass the increase on in full, and that variable home-loan rates change from 9 October.

Reported book rates that day — not a quote, and not what an existing customer necessarily pays:

Those are new-customer “lowest variable” figures as reported. Your loyalty rate can sit above them. That gap is the retention conversation, not a reason to assume the billboard rate is available on your file.

The same article said Canstar’s Sally Tindall noted that banks must give at least 20 days’ written notice before a higher repayment is debited, and that many lenders take two to three months to change the direct debit even when the rate changes sooner. Read the date on your letter. Do not budget off a social post.

Public commentary on November, also as reported that day, is split: Westpac and ANZ were tipping another hike, CBA and NAB a hold. A November hike would take the cash rate to 4.85% if it is another 25 basis points. That is a forecast desk’s arithmetic. The Board has not voted.

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What +0.25% does to a repayment

A cash-rate move of 25 basis points is not a promise that your home loan moves 25 basis points. If your lender does pass it on in full, you still need a number you can feel.

Worked example, not a quote. $800,000 remaining, principal and interest, starting rate 6.50%, no offset, no extra repayments.

Per $100,000, at these mid-6% rates, a 25 basis point step is roughly $16–$17 a month on a 30-year principal-and-interest term. On $800,000, about $132 a month is about $1,580 a year. Run the same step on your own balance in the mortgage repayment calculator, which also tables $400,000 to $1,000,000 at four rates, or compare a switch in the refinance playground.

If that extra repayment does not fit after tax and the usual bills, the meeting is no longer academic. Hardship options exist before a missed payment: mortgage hardship rights.

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What to do before the new repayment is debited

Variable loan

• Find the effective date and the new repayment in the lender’s notice. If the notice has not arrived, check the lender’s rates news page rather than a screenshot.
• Write down rate, remaining term, offset or redraw, and any package fee from internet banking.
• Ask for a written retention offer. Script: retention email. Compare it with a switch through the refinancing service.
• Compare term-for-term. A cheaper month that restarts the clock at 30 years can cost more lifetime interest. See nearly half of refinancers reset to 30 years.

Fixed loan

Nothing in Tuesday’s decision rewrites a fixed contract. Break costs do not fall because the cash rate rose. If the fix ends in October or November, the revert rate is the deadline. Model it now: should I fix in 2026?.

Buyer or pre-approval

A hike can move serviceability before settlement even when your approval letter still looks current. High-LVR files have less slack. Keep the approval in date and the 90-day statements boring. Do not exchange because you want the headline “out of the way.” Lane for that file: first home buyers and the first home buyer guide.

Investors should stress every loan, not one property: rent, vacancies, and the extra 25 basis points on the loans you already have. Start at investment loans.

Owner-occupiers who are not switching still need a home loan structure check if the product no longer matches how they bank.

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November is a different meeting

September CPI printed on 28 October 2026: annual headline 4.3%, annual trimmed mean 3.6%. Read the CPI and November RBA note. The RBA lists the next cash-rate update for 3 November. The Board has already said it can lift the target again. The last major jobs print before that meeting is in: September unemployment printed 4.7%, with employment down 39,300 and trend still 4.6%. That is a playbook for the print, not a rate call. The full 2026 and 2027 Board calendar, with every decision so far, is on the RBA meeting dates page.

Do not do these things because of that sentence:

• Panic-fix on a two-year teaser without break-cost maths.
• Treat 4.60% as the peak, or as proof of another hike.
• Lodge a messy application this week to “get in before November.” A declined file is a more expensive surprise than a headline you have not seen.

The August statement’s longer view still stands in the August playbook: the Board was not expecting inflation near the middle of the 2–3% band until late 2027. September did not retire that sentence.

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What this update is not

• A promise your lender will pass on exactly 0.25 percentage points, or on 9 October. That is what the majors told the trade press. Your contract follows your notice.
• A recommendation to fix or to stay variable. That depends on break costs, how long you will keep the property, and whether you can live with the revert rate.
• A call on the November vote.
• A guarantee that enquiring will cut your repayment. Approval is never guaranteed. Responsible lending still applies.

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Primary sources

Accessed 1 October 2026 unless a row says otherwise.

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Bottom line

The cash rate is 4.60%. The useful question is the date on your lender’s notice, the repayment that follows it, and whether a written retention offer beats a switch that keeps the same term.

If you want those numbers on your file before the direct debit changes, enquire for a rate review or start the apply pathway. Bring a recent statement.

FAQ

What did the RBA decide on 29 September 2026?

It raised the cash rate target by 0.25 percentage points to 4.60%, effective 30 September 2026. The decision was unanimous. Source: RBA media release 2026-27.

When will my repayment increase?

When your lender says it will, and the rate date is not the debit date. CommBank’s variable rates rose from 9 October 2026; its customers see the new rate in the app from 10 October and the new repayment amount from 11 October, with notice before it is debited. The other majors also moved from 9 October on their own notice schedules. A fixed rate waits until expiry unless you break it. Confirm your own notice. This is not a quote for your loan.

Did August inflation force the hike?

No. August CPI came out on 30 September, after the vote. It showed headline inflation at 4.0% and trimmed mean at 3.6%. It matters for the November meeting.

Should I refinance this week?

Only if term-for-term maths, fees and your documents support it. A 30-year reset can erase the saving. Use the refinance playground, then the refinancing service if you want the file checked.

Who is Azure Home Loans?

Azure Home Loans is an Australian mortgage broker. Credit representative ACR 538895, authorised under Australian Credit Licence 390261 (Yellow Brick Road). General information only; responsible lending applies.

General information only. Azure Home Loans Pty Ltd (ACR 538895, auth. under ACL 390261). Not personal financial or credit advice. Lender pass-through and advertised rates change. Confirm the figure on your own notice before you act.