Financial Wellbeing Scales

The Melbourne Institute, in partnership with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, are proud to share the Financial Wellbeing Scales as a free tool to help organisations in Australia and New Zealand reliably measure an individual’s financial wellbeing. We have worked with a global, multidisciplinary team of researchers to deliver two Scales:

The Observed Financial Wellbeing Scale
Useful for developers and data scientists, this scale uses customers’ existing banking data to show any payment issues like dishonoured repayments. It helps identify spending habits, if customers have a savings buffer and how much they could access in an emergency.

The Reported Financial Wellbeing Scale
This is a 5-10 question survey, useful for NGOs, researchers, global banks and government agencies. It is a subjective measure from customer insights, feelings and perspectives used to assess one’s current state of financial wellbeing and track progress over time. It can help with understanding how other factors, including household circumstances, financial behaviours, external conditions and program interventions, affect one’s financial wellbeing.

If you would like to use the Scales, please refer to our Terms of use and then complete our online form.

Terms of use

  • If you use or reference the Scales, we ask that you refer to them as the “Melbourne Institute Financial Wellbeing Scales” or “MI Financial Wellbeing Scales” and cite the initial report (e.g., cite Comerton-Forde et al., 2018) with each use. If you use the methodology in a different scale or modify it, we ask that you give your other / modified scale a different name.

  • By downloading these Scales, you agree that you will only use them for your organisation’s internal, non-commercial purposes (e.g., to monitor the financial wellbeing of your customers). If you want to use the Scales to create a commercial product or service for individuals, industry clients and/or practitioners (e.g., to create a financial wellbeing score or index to sell), then please contact us to discuss licensing options.

  • Neither the Commonwealth Bank of Australia nor the Melbourne Institute shall be liable for any errors or omissions, or for any misinterpretation or misuse of the Financial Wellbeing Scales, including the Observed Financial Wellbeing Scale and the Reported Financial Wellbeing Scale, and the methodology. All information is provided “as is”, without any warranties (express or implied) as to completeness, accuracy or currency and does not constitute financial advice.

  • If you would like insights on using the Scales, to connect with a non-competing organisation that is using the Scales or to share your use of the Scales in the interest of research and education, please email Melb-Inst@unimelb.edu.au with your organisation’s name and your contact details so we can get in touch with you.

Download the user guide

To access the Financial Wellbeing Scales and our user guide, please complete our online form.

Online form

Our researchers

John P de New

"Now, more than ever, it is critical to have insights into the drivers and determinants of financial wellbeing. These scales give us an opportunity to help improve the financial situation of all Australians."

John P. de New, Melbourne Institute

David C Ribar

"As excited as we were to create the scales, we were even more excited by the second stage of collaboration in which we used the scales to investigate Australians’ financial wellbeing and to examine the characteristics that are associated with high and low financial wellbeing. The insights from these analyses add to our understanding of financial wellbeing."

David C. Ribar, Honorary Professorial Fellow of Economics, Melbourne Institute; Professor of Economics and Faculty Director, Child and Family Policy Lab, Georgia State University

Reports