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A $1.6 billion Boxing Day

Australians are expected to splash $1.6 billion on Boxing Day sales alone, as budget-conscious shoppers gravitate towards a bargain despite growing cost-of-living pressures.

Sales are tipped to rise by 4.3 per cent, delivering strong end-of-year momentum for retailers according to data from the Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan.

The spending surge is expected to continue into the coming week, with shoppers projected to spend $3.8 billion through to the new year.

Solid pre-Christmas spending

Early Christmas purchasing and a solid build-up through December have created a strong platform for Boxing Day trading, the association’s chief executive Chris Rodwell said.

“Retailers are finishing the year on solid footing,” he said.

“The growth we’re seeing highlights both the resilience of the sector and the enduring appeal of Boxing Day as a premier discount event.”

The products expected to drive the numbers

Household goods are expected to be the most popular items on Boxing Day, with $476 million in sales forecast, followed by clothing, footwear and accessories at $226 million.

Hospitality spending is tipped to increase by 6.8 per cent from last year to $141 million.

Supporting local business

Bargain shoppers are being urged to support local retailers during the festive spending period, with Mr Rodwell noting every purchase helps fund local jobs, training, wages and community investment.

“Ultra low-cost offshore platforms like Temu and Shein cannot match that contribution and are not held accountable to the same standards,” he said.

• Completion of Consumer Charter pledge to transform 1,000 worst homes ahead of schedule
• Hundreds more military properties to be upgraded by the spring.
• The major upgrades show early delivery of the Defence Housing Strategy – a generational renewal of military homes.

Military families across the UK will celebrate Christmas in homes fit for heroes as improvements to fix 1,000 of the worst forces houses have completed ahead of schedule.

The ambitious programme of works to urgently fix 1,000 military homes has also now been extended, with a further 250 military properties to receive priority upgrades over the coming months – a 25% increase on the target set out by Defence Secretary John Healey when launching the Consumer Charter only eight months ago.

The programme of housing improvements, known as Raising the Minimum Standards, has seen significant works take place at service family homes across the UK, with upgrades made to almost 700 properties in England, over 150 properties in Northern Ireland, over 100 in Wales and over 50 in Scotland.

Works in England include improvements to more than 200 military homes in Wiltshire and Windsor, as well as homes in Bassingbourn, Swanton Morely, Woodbridge and Uxbridge.

Homes across the country have received a complete makeover including new flooring and other improvements such as replacing unreliable boilers and heating systems, repairing hundreds of leaky roofs and installing new bathrooms, kitchens, windows and doors.

These are the first steps of delivery under the MOD’s mission to transform military family housing, with £9 billion of investment allocated for a generational renewal of defence housing over the next ten years. The Defence Housing Strategy will see the modernisation, refurbishing or rebuilding of more than 40,000 service family homes and has been enabled by the landmark deal made just 12 months ago to bring 36,000 military homes back into public ownership.

Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said:

Our Armed Forces and their families sacrifice so much for our country, the least they deserve are safe and decent homes. The work we’ve done to upgrade the 1,000 worst homes means that more families can now enjoy Christmas together in homes that are fit for heroes.

This is just the start of our ambitious work to upgrade tens of thousands of homes across the country, made possible by our landmark deal to bring 36,000 homes back into public ownership and backed by £9 billion investment. We are ending the decades of neglect and giving our dedicated Armed Forces families the homes they deserve.

Cpl Jack Crean, his partner Nina and their one-year-old son Charlie have just moved into one of the newly refurbished homes at Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire.

Cpl Crean said:

We are really pleased to be in our new home for Christmas. Everyone is a lot happier here, especially Charlie. It’s nice to live in an up-to-date house, it works so much better for the whole family and if I was to go away, I know that my family is in a clean, modern house.

David Brewer, Chief Operating Officer for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation said:

I am very proud of the improvements our teams have made to a 1,000 of our worst homes. This is just the start of a generational renewal which will see 9 out of 10 homes improved. We are already seeing the results of the changes we are making through our charter commitments and are determined to do even more to improve the homes and deliver the experience our armed forces deserve.

The refurbishment of the 1,000 worst homes was just one the Consumer Charter commitments made by the Secretary of State to improve the experience of service families. All the Charter Commitments made in April 2025 are on course to be achieved by the end of this year, including the implementation of robust standards, ensuring service families can be confident they are moving into clean and functional homes, modernised policies making it easier to personalise homes, and the introduction of a named Housing Officer for every family to provide greater support.

These improvements are already being reflected in the results of monthly surveys of Service personnel, which show a clear upward trajectory in overall levels of satisfaction.