The first is that Australians were more cautious and had fewer opportunities to spend, given that many services were simply unable to be offered. As these opportunities disappeared, households did adjust their spending patterns, spending more on electronics and exercise equipment and online.
But this substitution was not enough to offset the very large drop in spending on services and there was a record decline in consumption in the June quarter. The second factor was the large boost to incomes from the various government support programs. Social assistance benefits, including the JobSeeker payment, increased by nearly $ billion in the June quarter.