The amount of debt in which most households have in Australia is continuing to fluctuate, specifically because of dependence on the market.  If you want to define where your credit is at, then you can look at how your debt compares to those that are also moving through financial options.  Understanding this can also help you to redefine how you should personally approach your finances and the amount of debt which you are in.

The debt comparisons show that Australia has increased in debt by 76% over the past ten years.  The 1999 ratio was at 88.8 and constituted of 48% of households that were in debt.  2009 has increased to a ratio of 156.1, which is just over 84% of households that are in debt.  The debt is further divided with 83.5% of the debt in household mortgages and 16.5% on credit cards and personal loans.  The increase can be seen in the chart below:

(taken from www.rba.gov.au).  

The type of debt which has increased in the past ten years is further divided by the amount of money and spending that each has.  The average number of homes in debt is 5,723,400 households.  The average amount in credit cards is $2,300, $14,000 in vehicle purchases, $9,000 in student debt and $7,000 in other debt.  The median amount owed including both personal and home ownership debts was at $50,500 with disposable income at $56,900 showing that most who are in debt are spending the same amount in income to stay in their homes.