RBA interest rate decision live: Millions brace as brutal 'ripple effect' to sweep Australia

We’re now heading well into uncharted territory. Many of Australia’s homeowners will have never seen a cash rate of 4.85 per cent during their time with a mortgage.

Afterall, it’s a rate not seen in 18 years.

And for Sally Tindal, Canstar.com.au’s data insights director, she says Australians are now facing “extreme financial pressure”.

“If the RBA ratchets up the cash rate once again, some will hit their financial ceiling,” she said.

“Today’s borrowers are carrying significantly more debt, making every 0.25 percentage point increase that much more painful.

“For someone with a $600,000 mortgage, another rate hike will mean finding an extra $92 a month to clear their new minimum repayments. However, across what would be five hikes for the year, the total increase would be a jaw-dropping $456.

“That’s almost half a grand in post-tax dollars a fairly typical borrower would have to find, every single month for the foreseeable future.”

And if you purchased five or so years ago with the cash rate much lower, the banks were handing out a lot more, meaning there’s plenty of you out there with a $1 million mortgage or more. As the table below shows, they’re hit a lot harder.