Australians’ tipping habits are not keeping pace with higher menu prices, new research shows, as household costs soar and diners grapple with pandemic-era hospitality charges.

A report by Lightspeed Commerce, using payments platform data, found that the average tip amount dropped in August to 8.1% of a total bill.

This is the lowest amount in four years recorded by the point-of-sale and software company, and the first time it has dropped below 9% since early 2021.

  • FUCK TIPPING.

    I was glad to see this bit at the end:

    The number of payments with tips has remained stable throughout the last year with 0.52% of payments including a tip in August 2023, according to Lightspeed.

    Still, we really do have to be vigilant in our efforts to prevent tipping being normalised. You can bet restaurant owners are going to be pushing it whenever they see an opportunity, so we need to be pushing back harder.

    • I’m absolutely horrified that tipping is still as high as 8% for those who do tip.

      Get that absolute nonsense out of our country. It benefits no one and will only do great harm in the long run. Just look at the mess that is American hospitality.

  •  MHLoppy2   ( @MHLoppy2@aussie.zone ) 
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    8 months ago

    I’ve never seen the stats before and 8% seems really high?? Is there some subset of Australia that tips all the time that I rarely see?

    Edit: nvm, the stat is confusing as other commenter pointed out.

    The number of payments with tips has remained stable throughout the last year with 0.52% of payments throughout the hospitality sector including a tip in August 2023, according to Lightspeed.

  •  dracs   ( @dracs@programming.dev ) 
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    8 months ago

    I’m surprised to hear it’s that high in Australia. Edit: Like others I misread the stats. 8% is the average to amount of the tip, only 0.5% of transactions include tips. I just got back from the US and it’s awful over there.

    The last two times I remember tipping in Australia (excluding “keep the change”) was one for a local food truck I like during the pandemic lockdowns. The other was a few years before that at a restaurant after I told them we were there for my mum’s birthday to get a candle in the desert, the chef instead took her back into the kitchen and showed her how they prepared several of the dishes (and we got the candle).

  • This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Australians’ tipping habits are not keeping pace with higher menu prices, new research shows, as household costs soar and diners grapple with pandemic-era hospitality charges.

    A report by Lightspeed Commerce, using payments platform data, found that the average tip amount dropped in August to 8.1% of a total bill.

    Andrew Fraser, Lightspeed’s managing director for Asia Pacific, said more customers have been leaving tips in recent years, although the size of the gratuity has fallen as a percentage of the total bill.

    “With inflation driving costs up, this is impacting the additional money that is able to go back to hospitality staff for their service.”

    Tony Green, chief executive of the Australian Foodservice Advocacy Body, said the long-term practice in Australia had been to tip about 10% for good service.

    This also raises a question over whether the wait staff, or restaurant owner, will receive the gratuity, although Tax Office rules dictate the venue operator must pass the tip to the employees.


    The original article contains 508 words, the summary contains 162 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!