Consumer prices in Australia added 0.2 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2015, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

That was unchanged from the previous quarter, although it exceeded forecasts for an increase of 0.1 percent.

On a yearly basis, inflation advanced 1.3 percent - in line with forecasts and down from 1.7 percent in the previous three months.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's trimmed mean added 2.3 percent on year, beating forecasts for 2.2 percent - which would have been unchanged.

On quarter, the trimmed mean added 0.6 percent - in line with forecasts and unchanged from Q4.

The RBA's weighted median was up 2.4 percent on year - unchanged an exceeding forecasts for 2.3 percent.

The median also also added 0.6 percent on quarter versus forecasts for 0.5 percent and down from 0.7 percent.

Among the individual components, prices for education jumped 5.3 percent on quarter, followed by health care (2.5 percent), housing and alcohol (both 0.8 percent) and recreation (0.7 percent). Transport costs fell 3.4 percent and clothing prices were down 1.3 percent.

On a yearly basis, education costs were up 5.4 percent on year, followed by alcohol (5.2 percent), furniture (4.4 percent), housing (2.7 percent) and food (1.9 percent). Transport costs were down 6.2 percent and communication costs fell 4.5 percent.

Also on Wednesday, the latest leading economic index from Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute showed on Wednesday that Australia's economy is expected to slow through the remainder of this year, sliding 0.3 percent in March.

That follows the 0.3 percent increase in February.

The economy is expected to struggle as businesses and consumers continue to be reluctant to spend their money, resulting in below-trend economic growth.