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Hotel and serviced apartment giant Meriton has been hit by a cyber attack, potentially exposing the details of up to 2000 guests and staff.

The company said very little sensitive information was stolen in the January security breach and credit card details were not compromised.

Instead, hackers accessed "incident reports" such as injuries sustained at Meriton properties.

"There is no evidence that affected individuals have had their information misused, nor that any information has been released into the public realm," the company said.

"Meriton has been working closely alongside leading cybersecurity and forensic IT professionals and taking all available steps to protect against future risk to data and prevent recurrence.

"This has included implementing enhanced cyber security measures to protect Meriton's network as well as extensive network monitoring so that Meriton can quickly identify and respond to any future issues."

The company operates several serviced apartment sites in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast and one in both Melbourne and Canberra.

It joins a string of firms that have been attacked by hackers in the past 12 months.

In recent days, consumer finance company Latitude Group revealed 14 million Australian and New Zealand customers were exposed after personal records were stolen from its systems by hackers.

The attack, detected earlier this month, snared 7.9 million drivers licences, about 53,000 passport numbers and an additional 6.1 million records, including names, addresses, telephone numbers and dates of birth.

The consumer watchdog has urged business leaders to re-double efforts to keep their customers safe amid a spike in online financial scams and identity theft.

More than $569 million was reported stolen in scams in 2022, but this only represents 13 per cent of the actual figure.

Millions of people had their personal data stolen last year in a series of high-profile hacks, including Medibank and Optus.

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Inflation has eased back for the second month in a row, bolstering the case for an interest rate pause when the Reserve Bank board meets next week.

Consumer prices lifted 6.8 per cent in the 12 months to February, sinking from 7.4 per cent annual growth in January.

Another slowdown in the Australian Bureau of Statistics' monthly consumer price index was anticipated but the moderation was sharper than expected, with consensus forecasts pencilling in a 7.2 per cent rise in the year to February.

Housing made the biggest contribution to the annual inflation reading, but at 9.9 per cent annual growth was down from 10.4 per cent in January.

The other major contributors to annual growth flagged by the ABS - food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport and recreation - also softened over the month but remained elevated.

Rent prices, however, stayed steady at 4.8 per cent annual growth for the second month in a row, with the tight rental market and low vacancy rates keeping pressure on rents.

February also recorded a larger-than-expected softening in holiday travel and accommodation, which eased 14.9 per cent over the year, from 17.8 per cent in January.

ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said the sharp turnaround in holiday-related prices followed strong demand for domestic and international airfares in the lead-up to Christmas and over the school holidays.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers welcomed "a number with a six in front of it" but said inflation remained unacceptably high and well above the RBA's target range of two-to-three per cent.

"It's more evidence that inflation peaked at the end of last year and it's moderating this year, but it will be higher than we'd like for longer than we'd like," he told parliament on Wednesday.

The monthly CPI gauge, which offers a timelier but less complete picture of consumer price movements when compared to the quarterly index, was the final data source on the RBA's watchlist ahead of its April cash rate decision.

The central bank has given itself room to pause or hike again depending on incoming data flows and economists are split on which way it will fall.

Data since the March rate hike has been mixed - soft inflation and retail trade data suggest the economy is losing momentum, while strong employment and business conditions point to ongoing resilience.

KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne said the RBA would likely follow other central banks and continue lifting rates.

"While today's data will give the RBA pause for thought, KPMG believes inflation is still sufficiently high and employment too strong for the RBA to call a halt to the cash rate rises just yet," Dr Rynne said.

He said Australia appeared to be on the same course as its global peers in the fight against inflation, with price rises seemingly past their peak but concerns about stubbornly high core inflation still playing out due to the tight economic environment.

AMP Capital senior economist Diana Mousina said the monthly inflation report and other key data sources should be enough to convince the RBA to move to the sidelines next week.

She said the banking crisis in the US and Europe - partly driven by higher interest rates - would also weigh on the board's decision-making.

The firm's economists expect a pause at the RBA's meeting next Tuesday, followed by rates being cut later in the year.

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The Labor government will stick to its values on wage increases for Australia's lowest-paid workers, keeping the door open to an inflation-linked boost to the minimum wage.

With the industrial umpire gearing up for its next minimum wage decision, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government's submission would be "absolutely consistent with our values".

"And what we don't do in submissions, and we didn't do last time, was put a dollar figure on that principle," he told reporters on Wednesday.

During the 2022 election campaign, Mr Albanese supported a pay increase for workers earning the minimum wage to match inflation that was then running at 5.1 per cent.

The Fair Work Commission landed on a pay rise of 5.2 per cent, about an extra $1 an hour more, for Australians on minimum wages.

The government will put in its submission to the commission's upcoming minimum wage decision on Friday and after the latest update on monthly inflation figures.

Inflation has been tracking down but was still sitting at an elevated 7.4 per cent in January, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics due to release the February update on Wednesday.

The monthly consumer price index is tipped to keep falling from its December peak of 8.4 per cent annual growth.

NAB economists anticipate the monthly indicator to slide to 7.2 per cent annual growth in February from 7.4 per cent in January, in line with consensus.

Commonwealth Bank economists anticipate a softer 6.9 per cent year-on-year lift in the monthly gauge in February.

© AAP 2023