Perth, Jan 19: Australian billionaires’ wealth has risen by almost $600,000 a day on average over the past year — a collective increase of more than $10.5 billion — according to new analysis released by Oxfam as the World Economic Forum opens in Davos.
The anti-poverty organisation says the findings highlight “rampant inequality” in Australia and is renewing calls for the federal government to tax the fortunes of the super-rich.
Oxfam’s research shows that since 2020, eight new Australian billionaires have been created.
Today, Australia’s 48 billionaires hold more wealth than the bottom 40 per cent of the population combined — almost 11 million people.
One Australian billionaire’s wealth increase over the past year alone matched the average annual incomes of more than 2,000 Australians. Meanwhile, the growth in wealth of Australia’s richest man and largest landlord, property developer Harry Triguboff, was equivalent to the amount required to build 10,600 homes.
Globally, billionaire wealth jumped by more than 16 per cent in 2025 — three times faster than the average growth rate over the past five years — reaching a record $27.7 trillion. The total number of billionaires exceeded 3,000 for the first time, while Elon Musk briefly became the first person ever to surpass a personal fortune of half a trillion dollars.
Oxfam says these gains are occurring while millions of Australians continue to face financial pressure from rising living costs, high rents and housing shortages.
Jennifer Tierney, Oxfam Australia Chief Executive, said the figures revealed a system skewed towards the ultra-wealthy.
“While millions of Australians are cutting back on essentials, struggling with soaring rents and mortgages, and watching global crises like conflict in Yemen, Sudan and Syria receive dwindling humanitarian support; Australia’s billionaires are accumulating extraordinary wealth at extraordinary speed. The gap between those doing it toughest and those benefiting most is stark, and well evidenced,” she said.
Oxfam’s report, Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Defending Freedom Against Billionaire Power, argues that extreme wealth is increasingly being used to influence political systems and economic rules. The organisation estimates that billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary citizens.
Mining magnate and former MP Clive Palmer is cited as a prominent Australian example. He has spent more than $250 million across five federal elections, including around $60 million during the 2025 campaign for his party Trumpet of Patriots.
“When one billionaire can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to shape political conversations, it shows how extreme wealth can translate directly into political power — undermining a fair and healthy democracy,” said Jennifer Tierney.
Oxfam says the concentration of wealth is contributing to hardship worldwide, with billions of people facing poverty, hunger and preventable disease. One in four people globally experience food insecurity.
In Australia, more than 3.7 million people live in poverty, including 757,000 children under 15. One in three households experienced food insecurity last year, meaning they regularly worried about or struggled to put food on the table.
Jennifer Tierney said the federal government had the tools to address the issue.
“We have a Prime Minister who talks about creating a kinder and fairer Australia. The Government has the tools to act. Ensuring the richest Australians pay their fair share of tax would reduce inequality, curb the growth of extreme wealth, and generate much-needed revenue for essential services at a time when people are doing it tough at home and humanitarian needs are soaring globally,” she said.
Oxfam is calling for urgent reforms to effectively tax the super-rich and remove tax breaks that allow extreme wealth to accumulate, arguing this is essential to restoring revenue for essential services and reducing inequality.
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