$50bn a minute: Billionaire wealth boom highlights inequality in Australia

#@#1##@ Australia's billionaires increased their collective wealth by $25.67 billion over the past year, which is equivalent to almost $50,000 per minute according to new analysis by Oxfam Australia.

Drawing on the 2026 Australian Financial Review Rich List, Oxfam found the country's billionaire class now controls more than $686 billion in wealth, with the number of billionaires rising to a record of 178, up 17 from a year earlier.

The organisation said the figures highlights a growing divide between Australia's wealthiest individuals and households facing persistent cost of living pressures, including rising housing, grocery and energy costs.

According to the analysis, the nation's 20 richest Australian's now hold more wealth than the bottom three million households combined.

Oxfam said the $25.67 billion increase in billionaire wealth over the past year alone could have funded significant social outcomes, including lifting nearly one million Australians out of poverty, covering household electricity bills nationwide for more than a year, or funding Australia's aid budget almost five times over.

Oxfam chief executive Jennifer Tierney said the findings underscored the need for broader tax reform to address rising inequality.

"As ordinary Australians continue to feel pressure at the checkout, at the petrol pump and when paying rent or mortgages, billionaire wealth is continuing to surge," Tierney said.

"There is something fundamentally wrong with a system where extreme wealth keeps skyrocketing while so many people are struggling to afford the basics, and governments claim there is not enough money for housing, healthcare, climate action and essential services," she said.

The comments come after the Federal Budget introduced measures aimed at easing cost of living pressures and reducing some tax concessions for higher income Australian's, including changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing arrangements.

While welcoming those reforms, Oxfam argued they do not go far enough to address structural wealth inequality.

"While modest, reforms to capital gains tax and negative gearing are important steps towards a fairer tax system," Tierney said.

"Australia should not continue rewarding wealth accumulation more generously than work, particularly at a time when so many households are under pressure."

The latest findings build on concerns raised by Oxfam earlier this year, when the organisation reported the average Australian billionaire's wealth increased by almost $600,000 a day in 2025, with collective billionaire wealth rising by more than $10.5 billion.

Oxfam has consistently argued that stronger tax measures are needed to address the growing concentration of wealth. The organisation has previously called for a net wealth tax on the richest 0.5% of households, the removal of the capital gains tax discount for individuals and trusts, and the abolition of negative gearing concessions. According to its analysis, a 5% tax on billionaire wealth could have raised $17.4 billion in a single year, funding measures such as universal affordable childcare, extended energy bill relief and increased humanitarian assistance.