Who decides the cash rate
The Monetary Policy Board is responsible for formulating monetary policy. The Reserve Bank of Australia sets the target “cash rate”. The RBA defines that target as the market interest rate on overnight funds.
The Board makes monetary policy decisions. The RBA explains each decision in a media release after the relevant Board meeting. That release is the official announcement. The RBA publishes meeting dates well in advance.
In 2026, the schedule and the decision list perform separate functions. The schedule supplies the meeting dates. The decision list supplies the announced outcomes. Neither record substitutes for the other.
The official 2026 meeting calendar
The RBA’s Board meeting schedule lists the following Monetary Policy Board dates for 2026.
The February meeting is listed for 2–3 February.
The March meeting is listed for 16–17 March.
The May meeting is listed for 4–5 May.
The June meeting is listed for 15–16 June.
The August meeting is listed for 10–11 August.
The September meeting is listed for 28–29 September.
The November meeting is listed for 2–3 November.
The December meeting is listed for 7–8 December.
The November and December meetings remain scheduled. The RBA decision list contains no announced outcome for either meeting. The schedule states when the Board will meet. It does not state a planned rate move.
The six decisions already announced
The RBA’s 2026 decision list contains six announced decisions. The cash-rate target table records the decision, resulting target and effective date. The official media release explains the outcome.
3 February 2026. The decision was announced after the 2–3 February meeting. The recorded change was +0.25. The cash-rate target became 3.85%. The change took effect on 4 February 2026.
17 March 2026. The decision was announced after the 16–17 March meeting. The recorded change was +0.25. The cash-rate target became 4.10%. The change took effect on 18 March 2026.
5 May 2026. The decision was announced after the 4–5 May meeting. The recorded change was +0.25. The cash-rate target became 4.35%. The change took effect on 6 May 2026.
16 June 2026. The decision was announced after the 15–16 June meeting. The recorded change was 0.00. The cash-rate target was unchanged at 4.35%. The table lists 17 June 2026 as the effective date.
11 August 2026. The decision was announced after the 10–11 August meeting. The recorded change was 0.00. The cash-rate target was unchanged at 4.35%. The table lists 12 August 2026 as the effective date.
29 September 2026. The decision was announced after the 28–29 September meeting. The recorded change was +0.25. The cash-rate target became 4.60%. The change took effect on 30 September 2026.
Publication time and effective date
The RBA issues each decision media release at 2.30 pm after the Board meeting. Any change to the cash-rate target takes effect from the following day.
The two timestamps perform different functions. The 2.30 pm release publishes the decision. The following day supplies the effective date of any changed target. The publication time is not the effective time.
The cash-rate target table records a 0.00 decision when the target is unchanged. It retains the existing target and lists the associated date. For a +0.25 decision, it records the new target and the following effective date.
The three official records also have distinct roles. The meeting schedule supplies the meeting window. The media release supplies the announced decision. The cash-rate target table supplies the numerical outcome and effective date.
A scheduled meeting does not provide its result in advance. It also does not signal a planned direction. The media release supplies the result after the meeting.
Chart Pack and minutes after each meeting
The RBA releases the Chart Pack on the day after each Monetary Policy Board meeting. It releases the Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting two weeks after each meeting. Those are standing release rules.
The RBA’s all-releases schedule lists minutes release dates of 13 October 2026, 17 November 2026 and 22 December 2026. The 13 October date follows the September meeting. The November and December dates follow their respective Board meetings.
The schedule lists no minutes release in January 2027. The listed December release remains the final entry for the year.
The decision media release comes first. The Chart Pack then follows on the day after the meeting. The minutes follow two weeks after the meeting. The cash-rate target table identifies the effective date separately from those follow-up releases.
These releases provide official material after the policy decision. The timing of a Chart Pack or minutes release does not replace the effective date recorded for the cash-rate target.
What the calendar means for home-loan borrowers
The RBA target refers to overnight funds. It is not a quoted home-loan rate. The RBA decision pages do not provide a lender’s repricing interval or product pricing.
A borrower would need to verify the applicable lender terms for that information. The Board calendar cannot supply a contract-level repricing date. No guaranteed loan-rate change date follows from an RBA decision.
An unchanged RBA decision does not establish an unchanged lending rate. A changed RBA target does not establish the size or timing of a lending-rate change. Those are separate facts.
The RBA record does not support treating the cash-rate target and a home-loan rate as the same data point. It also does not support a fixed pass-through interval or same-day repricing assumption.
The six announced outcomes are historical records. They do not determine the November or December results. The official calendar identifies the scheduled meetings. The decision release supplies each actual outcome.
For monitoring purposes, the official sequence is clear. The Board meets on the scheduled dates. The decision is released at 2.30 pm after the meeting. Any target change takes effect on the following day. The Chart Pack and minutes follow under their separate release rules.
Common questions
Is the Payments System Board part of the cash-rate decision calendar?
No. The Payments System Board is a separate board. The dates in the 2026 cash-rate calendar are Monetary Policy Board meeting dates.
Who speaks after the meeting?
The Governor holds a media conference after each Board meeting. The conference explains the decision.
What is the standard meeting rhythm?
The Board meets eight times a year. Meetings start on Monday afternoon and conclude the following day. The RBA says they follow the release of key economic data on inflation and economic activity.
How are release changes communicated?
The RBA says any changes are notified as far as possible. The notice appears in the weekly schedule.
When is the Statement on Monetary Policy scheduled?
The RBA schedule places the quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy in November 2026. Its listed release date is 3 November 2026.