Exclusive: Australia Debt Head: New Bonds Around 12-Year Tenor Likely to Be Issued in 2026–27

22 January 2026

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Australia is likely to introduce new Treasury bond lines of around the 12-year point and may consider launching a new 30-year benchmark in the 2026-27 fiscal year, according to Anna Hughes, CEO of the Australian Office of Financial Management.

In an interview with Econostream on 22 January (see transcript here), Hughes said that long-term Australian bond yields had recently been influenced by global factors but also shifting market expectations for domestic central bank policy, including a repricing from anticipated rate cuts to potential hikes.

However, Hughes said that she did not expect the “current market conditions to affect the timing or size of our announced syndications for the remainder of the fiscal year.”

Commenting on the lower-than-expected planned bond issuance for 2025–26, which was revised down by $25 billion, Hughes said that the 2024–25 Budget outcome had been approximately $20 billion better than anticipated at the time, and the modest improvement for the current 2025–26 fiscal year announced in December 2025 triggered the reduction in planned issuance.

Investor demand across the yield curve remained strong, she said, with the most consistent interest concentrated in bonds included in the 3- and 10-year futures baskets.

Asked what to expect for the 2026-27 issuance strategy, Hughes said that it would be “broadly consistent” with recent years, adding some details about some specific issuances.

“New lines slightly longer than the ten-year futures contract – around 12 years in tenor – are likely to be established, while a new 30-year benchmark will also be considered,” she said.

Hughes also confirmed plans to issue a new June 2036 Green Treasury Bond in the second half of the 2025–26 fiscal year, with a size broadly similar to the June 2034 green bond, which raised $7 billion.

Australia anticipated regular tenders of both green bond lines in order to maintain liquidity and investor interest, she said.

As for the possibility of expanding the green bond further, Hughes said that the green bond program was “a key part of the Australian Government’s sustainable finance strategy, and the AOFM remains committed to supporting and maintaining the program going forward.”

As to plans to make exchange-traded Green Treasury Bonds available to retail investors by the end of 2025, the feasibility of such an initiative would be reassessed in 2028, when the green bond framework is next reviewed, she said.

The AOFM did not expect to deliver any changes to its inflation-linked strategy in the 2025-26 fiscal year, according to Hughes, who said that they still intended to introduce a new TIB product linked to monthly inflation, which would be considered during 2026-28 “at the earliest.”