Reserve Bank information in credit card usage shows the following movement during the last 8 years
Month-Year : Balance in $m’s, at end of that month.
Jan-2003 : $16,682
Jan-2004 : $18,508 an increase of 10.95% in 12 months
Jan-2005 : $21,210 an increase of 14.60% in 12 months
Jan-2006 : $24,732 an increase of 16.61% in 12 months
Jan-2007 : $28,355 an increase of 14.65% in 12 months
Jan-2008 : $30,658 an increase of 8.12% in 12 months
Jan-2009 : $32,240 an increase of 5.16% in 12 months
Jan-2010 : $33,785 an increase of 4.79% in 12 months
Jan-2011 : $36,017 an increase of 6.61% in 12 months
The rate of increase slowed down considerably, with people appearing to be using their own money, in preference to Credit Card borrowing, during the Global Financial Crisis, but appears to be picking up again, albeit still slower than the increases during 2003-2007.
Source: http://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/tables/xls/c01hist.xls
