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The central bank delivered another super-sized rate hike in September but economists expect future rate rises to be more restrained.

The Reserve Bank of Australia hiked interest rates by 50 basis points on Tuesday, bringing the official cash rate to 2.35 per cent.

The latest rate hike comes ahead of GDP figures on Wednesday, with quarterly growth rates expected to remain steady despite the interest rate rises.

In a statement about the latest rate rise, RBA Governor Philip Lowe said the board was committed to returning inflation to between its target band of two to three per cent while "keeping the economy on an even keel".

"The path to achieving this balance is a narrow one and clouded in uncertainty, not least because of global developments," Dr Lowe said.

"The board expects to increase interest rates further over the months ahead, but it is not on a pre-set path."

He also said household spending remained an "important source of uncertainty".

Several economists noticed the governor had stopped referring to the "normalisation of monetary policy".

KPMG economist Brendan Rynne said this suggests the cash rate was close to the RBA's expectations of a "neutral rate" - a level where the cash rate neither stimulates nor contracts economic activity.

On the other hand, the RBA did say more further rate rises were to come.

"It has no target level - only that it will adjust the cash rate as needed to achieve its inflation target, subject to data and prevailing economic conditions," Dr Rynne said.

"So it would seem reasonable to expect another 25 basis point rise next month and then a pause by the RBA as it enables the official data to catch up and allows it to assess how prices and wages are flowing through into domestic inflation."

The RBA governor also noted the disconnect between consumer spending and rate rises.

However, CommSec economist Ryan Felsman said rate hikes would eventually trigger thriftier behaviour.

"While consumers have remained resilient due to the accumulation of savings, strong job market and mid-year store sales, depressed sentiment surveys imply that households are likely to rein in their consumption in the coming months," Mr Felsman said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the cash rate decision would "tighten the screws on family budgets".

"The markets had anticipated it and homeowners were expecting it as well but the fact that we knew it was coming doesn't make it any easier for people," he said in parliament.

Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the Albanese government had no plan to ease cost of living pressures.

"Instead it wants to reintroduce industry-wide bargaining, industry-wide disputes and strikes which will ultimately lead to higher unemployment, less profitability within businesses and a negative impact overall on the Australian economy," Mr Taylor said.

The Greens called for the RBA governor to resign for "misleading Australians about interest rate rises".

"Dr Lowe induced hundreds of thousands of Australians into taking out massive mortgages by effectively saying that interest rates would not rise until 2024," Greens economic justice spokesman Senator Nick McKim said.

"Having failed to keep that commitment, he should now resign."

The Housing Industry Association said the RBA risked pushing the cash rate too high.

HIA economist Tom Devitt said the effect of increasing interest rates is being obscured by the strength of the housing market.

He said the significant pipeline of building activity was acting as a buffer against rate increases.

"With long lead times in this current cycle there is a greater risk that the impact on unemployment of a rapid rise in the cash rate will be obscured and that the RBA will overshoot with unnecessary rate increases," Mr Devitt said.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also released trade figures on Tuesday, with high commodity prices, particularly coal and natural gas, driving an improvement in the trade balance.

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The soaring cost of living and personal debt is the number one threat to Australian mental health for the first time as the nation braces for another interest rate rise.

Forty per cent of Australians feel more distressed over finances compared with last year, Suicide Prevention Australia's annual State of the Nation report reveals.

It is the first time economic stress has overtaken social issues such as drugs, loneliness and family breakdown as the primary cause of self-harm.

The report also shows women were more vulnerable to cost of living pressure at 44 per cent compared to 36 per cent of men.

The rise in financial stress coincides with surging demand for suicide prevention services over the same 12-month period, Suicide Prevention Australia CEO Nieves Murray says.

The annual report will be released on Tuesday at Parliament House ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day on Saturday.

Ms Murray said it was important to remember suicide was complex and often due to multiple factors, such as mental ill-health, relationship breakdown, housing and job security, financial hardship, social isolation, retirement or alcohol and other drugs.

"The issue of cost-of-living and personal debt is ranked the biggest risk to rising suicide rates over the next 12 months," she said.

"This is higher than previous years and is the first time an economic issue has overtaken social issues like drugs, loneliness and family breakdown."

Ms Murray said it was positive to see more Australians seeking help. Still, she warned further economic turbulence could prove challenging, calling for more funding and commitment to a National Suicide Prevention Act.

"A National Suicide Prevention Act will ensure we get towards zero suicides faster by ensuring every government minister is aware, and prepared, for the human impact of their policy decisions," she said.

"Australians are increasingly aware of suicide risks and active in their prevention. They clearly want increased action from their federal government."

Suicide Prevention Australia joined more than 40 prominent organisations and individuals - including RUOK?, yourtown, Wesley Mission, ReachOut, Mates in Construction and Batyr - in an open letter delivered to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and all federal MPs.

"Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy and the impact spreads across families, schools, workplace, sporting clubs and community groups," Ms Murray said.

"For those feeling distress, help is available and it's important to reach out and seek support."

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia needs to do more to address the rate of suicide.

Speaking at a parliamentary breakfast in Canberra on Tuesday, he said it was a personal priority during his time as prime minister to reduce the number of Australians taking their own life.

"A compassionate nation like ours simply cannot allow the suffering of our fellow Australians to continue unabated," Mr Albanese said.

"We need to be the voice of every Australian we have lost to this tragedy and for all those who are currently suffering in silence."

It's estimated 65,000 people in Australians will attempt suicide this year.

It comes as a report found the soaring cost of living and personal debt is the number one threat to Australian mental health.

Suicide Prevention Australia's annual State of the Nation report found 40 per cent of Australians felt more distressed over finances compared with last year.

The report was launched at Parliament House on Tuesday, ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day on Saturday.

Mr Albanese said more needed to be done to address suicide rates.

"What we're talking about today is just an absolute tragedy, the fact that nine people will end their life today is something that is a scourge on our society," he said.

"We need to do much better and today, this morning is an opportunity to pay tribute to those frontline workers who are doing such extraordinary work under enormous pressure themselves, to help their fellow Australians."

Suicide Prevention Australia chief executive Nieves Murray said the rise in financial stress coincided with surging demand for suicide prevention services

"The issue of cost-of-living and personal debt is ranked the biggest risk to rising suicide rates over the next 12 months," she said.

"This is higher than previous years and is the first time an economic issue has overtaken social issues like drugs, loneliness and family breakdown."

Ms Murray said it was positive to see more Australians seeking help. Still, she warned further economic turbulence could prove challenging, calling for more funding and commitment to a National Suicide Prevention Act.

"A National Suicide Prevention Act will ensure we get towards zero suicides faster by ensuring every government minister is aware, and prepared, for the human impact of their policy decisions," she said.

"Australians are increasingly aware of suicide risks and active in their prevention. They clearly want increased action from their federal government."

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Liz Truss has been named as Britain's next prime minister, winning a leadership race for the governing Conservative party at a time when the country faces a cost of living crisis, industrial unrest and a recession.

After weeks of an often bad-tempered and divisive leadership contest that saw the foreign minister face off against former finance minister Rishi Sunak, Truss came out on top on Monday in a vote of Conservative Party members, winning by 81,326 votes to 60,399.

"I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy," Truss said after the result was announced.

"I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply."

The announcement triggers the start of a handover from Boris Johnson, who was forced to announce his resignation in July after months of scandal saw support for his administration drain away.

He will travel to Scotland to meet Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday to officially tender his resignation. Truss will follow him and be asked to form a government by the monarch.

Johnson said on Twitter that Truss "has the right plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, unite our party and continue the great work of uniting and levelling up our country."

"Now is the time for all Conservatives to get behind her 100 per cent."

After his defeat Sunak said the Conservative party musst unite behind the winner.

"It's right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times," Sunak said on Twitter.

Long the front-runner in the race to replace Johnson, Truss will become the Conservatives' fourth prime minister since a 2015 election. Over that period the country has been buffeted from crisis to crisis, and now faces what is forecast to be a long recession triggered by sky-rocketing inflation which hit 10.1 per cent in July.

Foreign minister under Boris Johnson, Truss, 47, has promised to act quickly to tackle Britain's cost of living crisis, saying that within a week she will come up with a plan to tackle rising energy bills and securing future fuel supplies.

Truss has signalled during her leadership campaign she would challenge convention by scrapping tax increases and cutting other levies in a move some economists say would fuel inflation.

That, plus a pledge to review the remit of the Bank of England while protecting its independence, has prompted some investors to dump the pound and government bonds.

Kwasi Kwarteng, widely tipped to be her finance minister, sought to calm markets on Monday, by saying in an article in the Financial Times newspaper that under Truss there would need to be "some fiscal loosening" but that her administration would act in "a fiscally responsible way".

Truss faces a long, costly and difficult to-do list, which opposition lawmakers say is the result of 12 years of poor Conservative government. Several have called for an early election - something Truss has said she will not allow.

Truss has said she will appoint a strong cabinet, dispensing with what one source close to her called a "presidential-style" of governing, and she will have to work hard to win over some lawmakers in her party who had backed Sunak in the race.

First, she will turn to the urgent issue of surging energy prices. Average annual household utility bills are set to jump by 80 per cent in October to STG3549 ($A5993), before an expected rise to STG6000 in 2023, decimating personal finances.

Britain has lagged other major European countries in its offer of support for consumer energy bills, which opposition lawmakers blame on a "zombie" government unable to act while the Conservatives ran their leadership contest.

In May, the government set out a STG15 billion support package to help households with energy bills as part of its STG37 billion cost-of-living support scheme.

© RAW 2022