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Four in five Australian holidaymakers are reconsidering their travel plans due to the rising cost of living.

Research conducted by YouGov found while 87 per cent of Australians planned to travel at some point this year, 83 per cent said they would need to rein in spending.

The rising cost of living and spiralling inflation has led to 48 per cent of people being less likely to travel overseas in the next 12 months, while 37 per cent are less likely to go interstate.

For those still travelling, almost half would book cheaper accommodation, while 36 per cent would take a shorter trip and one in 10 wouldn't take out travel insurance.

The poll of more than 1000 people was commissioned by Southern Cross Travel Insurance, whose chief executive Jo McCauley said while COVID-19 disrupted travel in previous years, household budgets were now the dominant factor.

"It's unsurprising, following the lockdowns, that Australians still have a huge appetite to get out there and see the world," she said.

"But the rising cost of living is impacting Australians across all areas and travel is no exception, so it's understandable Australians will be looking for ways to cut costs while still trying to make those trips happen."

Despite the cost-of-living concerns, there was a 22 per cent increase in the number of Australians looking to go overseas, compared to the year before.

Meanwhile, 77 per cent said they planned to holiday in their home state during the next 12 months

The impact of cost-of-living concerns will be front of mind when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its household spending indicators on Tuesday.

The bureau will also release business turnover figures, while NAB publishes business sentiment data, and ANZ and Roy Morgan put out consumer confidence data.

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Consumer confidence has plunged to the lowest level since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as a series of rapid-fire interest rate rises takes its toll on household budgets.

ANZ and Roy Morgan's weekly measure of consumer sentiment sank 2.9 points last week to 77, well below the monthly average of 111.6 over the past three decades.

The weekly barometer is now at its lowest point since April 2020, when much of the nation went into lockdown for the first time.

The Reserve Bank's 25 basis point cash rate hike in March likely influenced the 6.4 point drop in the "current financial conditions" sub-index, which hit its lowest point since 2001.

ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said mortgage holders remained the least confident of all housing cohorts, but sentiment in this group did recover 1.7 points after a sharp decline in the lead-up to the March cash rate decision.

"Those who own their home outright and renters reported sharp decreases of 4.1 points and 7.9 points respectively," she said.

The central bank has been lifting interest rates since May 2022 in response to high inflation.

The consumer sentiment survey comes as separate research shows many Australian holidaymakers are reconsidering their travel plans due to the rising cost of living.

Research conducted by YouGov found that while 87 per cent of Australians planned to travel at some point this year, 83 per cent said they would need to rein in spending.

The rising cost of living and spiralling inflation has led to 48 per cent of people being less likely to travel overseas in the next 12 months, while 37 per cent are less likely to go interstate.

For those still travelling, almost half would book cheaper accommodation, while 36 per cent would take a shorter trip and one in 10 wouldn't take out travel insurance.

The poll of more than 1000 people was commissioned by Southern Cross Travel Insurance, whose chief executive Jo McCauley said while COVID-19 disrupted travel in previous years, household budgets were now the dominant factor.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer survey revealed the "future finances" gauge sank a notable 4.4 points, as did "future economic conditions", which fell by 4.3 points.

"Current economic conditions" lifted a touch, as did "time to buy a major household item".

"Weekly inflation expectations" lifted 0.5 percentage points to 5.7 per cent, with the four-week moving average remaining steady at 5.3 per cent.

© AAP 2023

As Australians battle yet another natural disaster, this time in the far north, a federal parliamentary committee is examining the nation's preparedness, response and recovery in such events.

But the Australian Defence Force - usually tasked with response and recovery in natural disasters - warns its workforce cannot meet the increasing demand for support.

Floodwaters are slowly receding in remote towns and cattle stations in Queensland's northwest, battered with record-breaking rain, but the emergency has shifted south to Urandangi, near the Northern Territory border.

Earlier this month, the regional NSW town of Lismore marked one year since devastating floods claimed five lives and more than 3000 homes.

The Black Summer bushfires of 2019 and 2020 roared across much of the nation, with the environmental and emotional toll still being felt.

Australian Defence Force personnel are often called in by the federal government to assist as part of the response to such disasters.

But a defence submission to the committee details how its commitment has created workforce pressures on its permanent and reserve ADF capacity.

The submission says the ADF has also had to reprioritise its workforce to meet government directions during natural disasters which reduces its capacity to train, maintain and sustain workforce levels for defence purposes.

"The use of both full-time and part-time defence personnel to support the Australian community since 2019 has been at an unprecedented scale, duration and frequency," the submission said.

"Since 2019 over 35,100 ADF personnel have deployed in domestic disaster relief operations, some multiple times."

The submission recommends the government establish a scalable, deployable "civil contingency workforce" as an alternative to the ADF that would support national disaster response and recovery.

Defence representatives will give evidence to the committee along with the National Emergency Management Agency, CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology.

© AAP 2023