What moves the Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is set against the rest by one bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), and by the things that bank has to react to. Here is the rate it has set, what it is aiming at, the releases that move this currency and what is on the calendar this week.
Rate and calendar as the research last recorded them, Wed Sep 23, 2026, 9:14pm.
In short
- Central bank
- Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)
- Policy rate
- 4.35%
- Next meeting
- 29 Sept 2026
- What the bank targets
- Inflation between 2 and 3%, and full employment
The three things that move it
- 1Risk appetite. The Australian dollar is the most cyclical of the eight and falls hardest when markets turn.
- 2China: its demand for iron ore and its growth numbers arrive as Australian news.
- 3The Reserve Bank of Australia, which targets a range rather than a single number and watches the labour market closely.
Tied to risk appetite and commodities, and to demand from China.
On the calendar this week
- Thu 03:30AU jobs
Times in Amsterdam. The whole week for all eight is on the calendar page.
The other seven
A currency is only strong or weak against another one, so the page next door matters as much as this one.
- USD US dollar
- EUR Euro
- JPY Japanese yen
- GBP British pound
- CHF Swiss franc
- NZD New Zealand dollar
- CAD Canadian dollar
What the rate gap between two of them pays is on the rate differentials page, and how a pair is scored from two currencies is on the fundamental bias page.
Questions about the Australian dollar
What moves the Australian dollar?
What the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) does and is expected to do, the releases that bank steers on, the mood of the wider market, and anything political big enough to be priced. A currency only moves against another one, so the same questions apply to the other side of the pair.
Which central bank sets the AUD rate, and what is it aiming at?
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Its target: inflation between 2 and 3%, and full employment. A release matters most when it speaks to that target.
Where can I see the current AUD policy rate?
At the top of this page, next to the next scheduled meeting, and next to the other seven on our rate differentials page. It follows the research, so a decision shows up on the day it is made. All eight rates
Do you publish a AUD forecast?
No. We publish a reading of now: how the currency scores against the other seven today and why, rewritten when the news changes. Nobody here will tell you where a currency will be next month. How past calls turned out