The prospect of a lift on interest rates seemed to have failed in eroding consumer confidence for now yet an alarming number of Australians were now enmeshed in debt related problems that make it harder for them to meet collections dues.

A survey gleaned on sampled perceptions gathered by debt collection agency Prushka across Australia found that while many consumers were not worried by soaring interest rates, a host of them were already battling deteriorating repayment issues.

Prushka chief executive Roger Mendelson said on Thursday that the good mood carried by most consumers could be attributed on an earlier acceptance that the cash rates would increase anyway.

Mr Mendelson is upbeat that the survey result should boost the outlook of the country's retail industry, which he said "is often hit hard by negative sentiments when interest rates go up."

Prushka noted too that most Australian consumers sampled for the survey expressed confidence on the security of their present employment, owing most likely to the country's better job rate and the general confidence prevailing over the present state of the economy.

However, an alarming sign was highlighted by the survey, which according to Mr Mendelson, pointed to the growing trend of consumers struggling to meet debt repayments, reflecting a totally different economic reality for a substantial number of Australians.

Prushka said that the growing numbers of instalment scheme in debt repayments and debt defaults clearly showed that many consumers have become debt-ridden, thuds making it harder for collections agencies "to collect debts, indicating that consumers' cash-flow positions were worsening."

The bottom line, according to Mr Mendelson, is more Australian consumers are now coping hard to meet bills payment or even refuse to make payment notwithstanding that the survey merely saw a slight surge on consumer financial stress when compared to the last Prushka survey conducted in April this year.