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Australia's central bank has bumped up interest rates for the 10th time in a row, bringing the cash rate to its highest point in more than a decade.

The Reserve Bank on Tuesday lifted the official cash rate by another 25 basis points, taking it to 3.6 per cent.

The increase will pile more pressure on mortgage holders, who are already feeling the heat from increasing costs.

The hike will add more than $1000 to the average monthly mortgage compared with repayments in April 2022, Finder analysis shows.

The Reserve Bank has been hiking interest rates aggressively to tackle inflation, which came in at a hotter-than-expected 7.8 per cent in the December quarter - its highest level since 1990.

In a statement accompanying the rates decision, RBA governor Philip Lowe signalled further moves to stymie inflation but adjusted his phrasing slightly.

"The board expects that further tightening of monetary policy will be needed to ensure that inflation returns to target and that this period of high inflation is only temporary," he said.

City Index senior market analyst Matt Simpson said this represented a slight shift from the language used last month - when Dr Lowe said further interest rate increases would be needed in the coming months - and could signal the end of the tightening cycle was getting closer.

"Of course, a final 25 (basis point) hike is far from certain at this point, but the main takeaway for me is that the RBA have removed a key hawkish sentence from the February statement," he said.

The RBA governor also pointed to Australia's slowing economy, strong but easing labour market and recent data that showed the risk of prices and wages chasing one another was decreasing.

Dr Lowe also said inflation had likely peaked as indicated by the monthly consumer price index, which grew 7.4 per cent in the 12 months to January.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers agreed that inflation had likely passed its highest point.

"But it will be higher than we'd like for longer than we'd like," he told parliament on Tuesday.

Dr Chalmers said the government would take responsibility for the areas of inflation it could control.

"Australians understand that a lot of this inflation is coming at us from around the world and they understand that broken supply chains here in Australia have been part of the problem as well," he said.

"And our three-point strategy is all about, as we've said before, cost-of-living relief, repair of supply chains and restraint in the budget."

© AAP 2023

Three pilots don't recall hearing a counterpart on radio before his helicopter collided with another, killing him and three other people on the Gold Coast.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau hasn't found any recordings of radio calls made by the four helicopter pilots flying in the Sea World area on January 2 due to the low height of their aircraft.

One of the pilots in the crash, Michael James, told investigators he saw passengers boarding his colleague Ashley Jenkinson's helicopter (XKQ) and thought the other aircraft would pass behind him.

"They did not recall the pilot of XKQ making a standard "taxiing" call announcing their intention to depart," the ATSB's preliminary report said.

Two other helicopter pilots conducting flights from the nearby Marina Mirage at the time were also interviewed about the radio communications.

One recalled hearing Mr James' inbound call but not Mr Jenkinson's taxiing call, while the second Marina Mirage pilot didn't recall hearing either.

ATSB commissioner Angus Mitchell stressed that that evidence "did not necessarily mean a taxiing call was not made" by Mr Jenkinson and investigators would probe the radio calls in the lead-up to the crash.

The report said Mr James also told the ATSB he didn't see Mr Jenkinson's helicopter take off from the helipad.

"While video footage taken by passengers in both helicopters on mobile phones contained images of the other helicopter, this does not mean the other helicopter was visible to either pilot," Mr Mitchell said.

"The investigation will look closely at the issues both pilots faced in seeing the other helicopter."

Sea World Helicopters had fitted both helicopters with traffic collision avoidance systems, despite that not being required.

However the systems hadn't been integrated and were only able to issue audio alerts with Mr James saying he didn't hear any alert before the accident.

Mr James' aircraft also wasn't transmitting secondary surveillance radar responses about its position and altitude at the time with Sea World Helicopters aware of the problem.

"The aircraft was not able to be used in controlled airspace until it was rectified. Efforts to diagnose and address the transponder problem were ongoing," the ATSB said.

"A review of all avionics and pilot assistance systems, and radar and surveillance information, is ongoing."

Mr Jenkinson, 40, and his passengers including British couple Ron and Diane Hughes, 65 and 57, and Sydney mother Vanessa Tadros, 36, died when their helicopter crashed.

Ms Tadros' son Nicholas, 10, has been undergoing procedures in hospital since the accident and last week had his leg amputated from the knee down.

Victorian mother Winnie de Silva, 33, and her nine-year-old son Leon are recovering from injuries sustained in the crash.

Mr James managed to land his aircraft safely but he and two of his passengers were injured by flying glass when its windshield shattered.

The injured were New Zealand women Elmarie Steenberg and Marle Swart, who had been on holiday with their husbands Riaan Steenberg and Edward Swart.

The full ATSB report into the collision by the Air Transport Safety Bureau is not expected until at least September 2024.

© AAP 2023

The trade surplus fell to $11.6 billion in January from $12.9 billion in December.

Trade data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed exports grew 1.4 per cent in January and imports swelled by 4.6 per cent over the month.

Economists expected an increase in the trade surplus driven by strong commodity prices and the ongoing rebound in service exports since the borders reopened after the pandemic.

The trade balance has averaged about $11.3 billion over the 18 months from July 2021, Westpac analysis shows, with the largest surplus before 2021 $9.9 billion.

The results follow a weaker-than-expected growth report, with the December quarter national accounts revealing an expansion of 0.5 per cent, down from a 0.7 per cent lift in the three months to September.

High inflation and rising interest rates are starting to take a toll on the economy, with another interest rate hike widely anticipated when the Reserve Bank board meets on Tuesday afternoon.

For mortgage holders, another 25 basis point rate hike will stretch household finances even further.

Analysis from comparison site Canstar shows another cash rate hike will add $1051 to monthly repayments (compared with April 2022 levels) on the average $500,000 loan with 30 years remaining on the term.

With inflation still well above the RBA's two to three per cent target band, in recent communications the central bank has adopted a firmer stance on inflation.

After the February decision it indicated "further increases in interest rates" would still be needed.

The Australian National University RBA shadow board has assigned an 81 per cent probability to another rate hike on Tuesday and a 19 per cent chance the bank will hold.

"There are growing signs past interest rate increases are working their way through the economy, which are for example reflected in a weakening consumer outlook, but current economic conditions remain relatively benign," the shadow board noted.

Consumers remain downcast ahead of the March cash rate decision.

Consumer confidence as sampled by ANZ and Roy Morgan every week has been tracking well below monthly averages, and returned another depressed result last week, falling 0.1 points to 79.9.

But the index did show a 2.9 point recovery in confidence for those paying off a mortgage, despite the impending interest rate decision.

ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said the improved sentiment among mortgage holders followed a sharp fall the previous week.

Confidence among renters and outright home owners slid last week, but Ms Timbrell said both groups were still tracking above those paying off a home loan.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said the likely rate hike would be difficult for many mortgage holders.

"It's going to be incredibly tough for families with mortgages. Quite frankly, I don't know how a lot of them are doing it at the moment," he told Sky News on Tuesday.

"I just want this cycle of pain to come to an end as soon as possible because at a certain point it's almost counterproductive."

However, he acknowledged it was important not to have "runaway inflation".

© AAP 2023