Australia’s 178 billionaires have increased their collective wealth by $25.67 billion over the past year, equivalent to nearly $50,000 per minute, according to a new analysis by Oxfam Australia based on the 2026 Australian Financial Review Rich List. The anti-poverty organization reports that the total wealth of Australian billionaires now exceeds $686 billion, while data from the Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss) shows that 3,706,000 people live in poverty, including 757,000 children under the age of 15. Additionally, one in three households experienced food insecurity last year, meaning they struggled to afford or were anxious about putting food on the table.
Record Number of Billionaires
Australia now has its highest-ever number of billionaires, with 178 individuals on the list, an increase of 17 from the previous year. A significant portion of this new wealth has been generated through artificial intelligence and data centres. Besides perennial names like Gina Rinehart, the list includes new billionaires such as property developers Anthony El-Hazouri and Charbel Hazzour, AI-driven jobs platform founder Katrina Leslie, mining boss Chris Ellison, fashion label White Fox founders Daniel and Georgia Contos, and luxury property developers Adrian and Peter Puljich.
Wealth Inequality Deepens
Oxfam highlights that the 20 richest Australians now hold more wealth than the bottom 3 million households combined. Jennifer Tierney, chief executive of Oxfam Australia, stated: “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 noted that the increase in billionaire wealth over the past year alone could have lifted nearly a million Australians out of poverty or covered household electricity bills for every Australian household for well over a year.
While AI and data centres have introduced new names to the billionaires list, most have accumulated wealth through property development, mining, and other technology sectors. Tierney acknowledged that the federal budget included some welcome measures to ease household pressure and begin reforming unfair tax settings, but argued it did not go far enough to address the scale of wealth inequality. “While modest, reforms to capital gains tax and negative gearing are important steps towards a fairer tax system. Australia should not continue rewarding wealth accumulation more generously than work, particularly at a time when so many households are under pressure,” she said. She emphasized that without structural tax reform, the divide between the rich and poor will only deepen.
