The lift in consumer confidence following Malcolm Turnbull's ascension to the nation's top job has proved to be short lived.
The ANZ/Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence index fell 3.4 per cent last week, after jumping 8.7 per cent the previous week when Mr Turnbull won the Liberal leadership and became prime minister.
ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan said the reversal in confidence was not surprising after the previous week's record bounce.
"While Turnbull's appointment was greeted with considerable optimism, the challenges facing Australian households remain front of mind and make it difficult to sustain a lift in confidence," he said.
Mr Hogan said the new administration needed to focus on getting the budget in order and presenting a longer-term plan for the economy, including outlining a reform agenda.
"While pursuing these objectives will put the Australian economy on a solid footing in the medium term, it may come at the cost of growth in the short term," he said.
"Hence, even if business and consumer confidence can build over the coming weeks, we doubt it will be enough to move the dial on the economy."
The decline in consumer confidence last week was broad-based with most categories partly reversing the previous week's gains.
However, the category covering whether it is a good time to buy a major household item fell further than it had gained the previous week and is now at the lowest level since May 2009, indicating weakness in the housing market.
