Australia’s richest gain $600,000 a day as inequality deepens, new report reveals
Billionaire wealth surged 16 per cent last year while millions of Australians struggled with poverty and food insecurity, prompting calls for urgent tax reform.
News.com.au
January 19, 2026
The country’s richest 48 people control more wealth than 11 million Australians combined, sparking calls for a five per cent wealth tax to help fund basic human needs.
In its latest inequality report, anti-poverty organisation Oxfam revealed the growing divide in Australia as the bulk of the country’s wealth continues to be amassed by a few billionaires.
According to Oxfam, Australia has gained eight billionaires since the pandemic, taking the total number to 48.
Each of the 48 billionaires are making more than the annual income of more than 2000 Australian workers each, and earns more money than they could possibly spend in a lifetime.
Australia’s wealthiest 48 people each amassed more than $600,000 a day last year.
Globally, billionaire wealth jumped by over 16 per cent in 2025, three times faster than the previous five-year average, to $27.7 trillion – its highest level in history.
The world now has a total of 3000 billionaires, with the richest, Elon Musk, the first person to surpass half a trillion dollars.
Oxfam Australia chief executive Jennifer Tierney told NewsWire the growing wealth of billionaires both at home and abroad is due to favourable tax settings.
“What we are seeing is a system that is allowing for the exponential growth of billionaire wealth,” she said.
“That means the tax system isn’t appropriately taxing them as there is no limit to the amount of wealth a person can amass.”
Ms Tierney explained these billionaires are also using their wealth to heavily favour the nation’s tax system to ensure they remain at the top.
Oxfam estimates a billionaire is 4000 times more likely to hold political office than an ordinary citizen, as the super-wealthy are securing more political power.
“We are seeing an increased focus of billionaires in democracies where they have not been before, they are having more political influence and influencing policies that will suit them.
“It is a rise across the board in various countries- most notably in the US- but it is also across Western Europe and Australia.”
Each billionaire makes the same as at least 2000 Australian workers.
In Australia, they used the example of mining magnate and former member of parliament Clive Palmer who spent more than $250m over the last five federal elections.
“For democracy this means the policies and the systems are going to be there to defend the wealth of the richest few and not defend the freedom and support of the many,” she said.
“You are seeing policies that favour the protection of intergenerational wealth, policies that take the guard rails of corporations so they aren’t being taxed the way they used to be and a complete erosion of the idea that workers deserve their fair share of the wealth being generated,” she said.
Ms Tierney points to Australia’s housing challenges, saying it is being exacerbated by negative gearing and capital gain tax discounts that favour those who already have wealth.
Collectively Oxfam Australia says these policies cost the tax system $20bn.
To offset the rising inequality, Oxfam is calling for a global wealth tax for billionaires of 5 per cent to help pay for basic necessities.
If this was applied to Australian billionaires in 2025 it could have raised $17.4 billion, enough to deliver cheap childcare for all families, extend energy bill relief for another two years, or even increase the humanitarian budget almost seven times over.
Australia has more than 3.7 million people living in poverty, including 757,000 children under 15 years, while one in three have experienced some form of food insecurity over the last year.
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