Gold vs. Interest Rates: Australia

Gold pays no interest, so when a central bank raises its policy rate, holding gold becomes relatively less attractive, and when rates fall it becomes more attractive. This page lets you check that against the record: gold priced in AUD next to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy rate, month by month from Jan 1999 to Oct 2026.

Country

Policy rate now

4.60%

since 2026-09-30

Rate, 12 months

+1.00 pts

change over the year

Gold in AUD

5,933

Oct 2026 close

Gold, 12 months

-3.1%

in AUD

Gold (AUD, log scale)(left axis)Reserve Bank of Australia policy rate (%)(right axis)

What gold did when rates rose, fell or held

Every twelve-month window in the data is sorted by what the policy rate did over those same twelve months, then gold’s change over the window is averaged. Windows overlap, so treat the rows as a pattern to look at, not as separate tests.

Gold’s average twelve-month change by what the policy rate did
When the rate was	Windows	Gold, average change	Windows with gold up
Rate risingup 0.5 points or more over the year	95	+10.3%	83%
Rate fallingdown 0.5 points or more over the year	103	+13.1%	77%
Rate steadywithin 0.5 points of a year earlier	124	+11.2%	75%

How to read this

The left axis is gold on a log scale, so equal distances are equal percentage moves. The right axis is the policy rate, drawn as steps because it holds until the next decision.
Interest rates are one influence among many. Inflation, the dollar, central-bank buying and fear all move gold too, which is why gold has risen in some years of rising rates.
Gold is the month-end close. The rate is the one in force at month end. Past relationships may not repeat, and nothing here is investment advice.

Gold against other central banks

Interest-rate and inflation data: Bank for International Settlements (BIS), data.bis.org. The BIS is not affiliated with and does not endorse this site.