As if the Reserve Bank’s brutal cash rate hike wasn’t enough of a blow to family budgets, the sacred Aussie pub feed is now firmly in the firing line.
Chicken parmi fans Callum Steward , Zac Wild and Sam Barnes at Bine Bar and Dining on the Gold Coast. Picture: Glenn Hampson
New modelling reveals a standard chicken parmi could cost a whopping $43 by 2036 if restaurant meal prices keep rising at the punishing pace they have since 2019.
It comes as mortgage stress hits new highs on the back of this week’s interest rate rise to an 18-year high of 4.85 per cent, with families forced to cut back on everyday luxuries like a night out at the local just to meet loan repayments.
The Aussie favourite is projected to become a luxury item
Data experts at playcasino.com ran the grim projections after PubWatch, which tracks menu prices at more than 3,000 watering holes, put the average chicken parmigiana at $30.14 across 3,213 venues.
The beloved cheesy chicken schnitty dish already costs more than $29 in every state and territory. It is currently cheapest in the Northern Territory at $29.56, and most expensive in South Australia at $31.15.
Elsewhere, parmi is on the menu at an average $29.83 in NSW, $30.08 in Queensland, and $30.31 in Victoria (that’s ‘parma’ for you, thanks).
Eating out is out of reach for many families grappling with RBA Governor Michele Bullock’s news of another cash rate hike. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, the consumer price index for restaurant meals rose 23.2 per cent between 2019 and 2025. That works out to a compounding hike of 3.5 per cent every year.
Applying that 3.5 per cent sting to today’s $30.14 average over the next ten years, the national price hits $42.70 by 2036, rounded up to a wallet-draining $43.
At that same rate, South Australia’s parmi will soar to $44.13, while the NT’s will reach $41.87.
South Australia has the highest average cost for the cheesy chicken schnitty dish
Prefer red meat? The average pub steak, currently sitting at $40.24, is projected to reach an eye-watering $57.
For a couple who treat themselves to a parmi just once a week, the habit costs about $3,135 a year at today’s prices.
By 2036, that same weekly pub date will set them back $4,440 a year.
“The parmi is the benchmark of the Aussie pub feed, and it is already about $30 right across the country,” the data experts at playcasino.com said.
Hotel owner John Doble poses for a photo inside Moore Park View Hotel in Waterloo. The suburb has the best-value pub grub. Image: AAP Image / Monique Harmer
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“Restaurant meal prices climbed 23 per cent between 2019 and 2025, and if that carries on, a $43 parmi is not far-fetched by 2036.
“There is still value about, though. PubWatch’s best-value suburb, Waterloo in Sydney, averages $23.67, so it pays to shop around.”
While the figure is a projection rather than an economic forecast, it assumes current inflationary trends continue.
But with interest rates climbing and a Friday night feed drifting out of reach, the great Australian dream is looking more expensive than ever.
The RBA has lifted the cash rate lifted to an 18-year high of 4.85 per cent
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