Focus on the BIG picture.
Friday, Jun 06, 2025
Outside the box.
Australia's Housing Crisis: Billionaire Wealth Could Fund Hundreds of Thousands of Homes
New data reveals the stark contrast between the skyrocketing wealth of Australia's billionaires and the struggle of average citizens to secure housing.
Australia is currently facing a severe housing crisis, with homeownership increasingly out of reach for ordinary citizens.
According to the Australian Financial Review's Rich List released recently, the total wealth of Australia's richest 200 individuals has surged by 160% over the past decade, reaching a staggering $667.8 billion in 2025.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart leads the list for the sixth consecutive year, boasting an estimated net worth of $38.1 billion.
This wealth stands in stark contrast to the median personal income in Australia, which, as reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is $55,062 annually.
The anti-poverty organization Oxfam has pointed to property as the primary source of wealth accumulation for the nation’s richest citizens.
Their analysis indicates that the collective wealth of the billionaires could buy over 680,000 average Australian homes, based on the mean dwelling price of $976,800.
This growing wealth disparity is evidenced further by the fact that the number of billionaires in Australia has more than doubled over the past decade, rising from 74 in 2015 to 161 in 2025.
During this period, the wealth of these billionaires has been increasing at an average rate of more than $137 million daily, which translates to approximately $95,000 every minute.
To illustrate this disparity, the average billionaire now possesses over 116,000 times the wealth of individuals in the bottom 50% of the population.
Oxfam Australia's acting chief, Chrisanta Muli, echoed concerns about rising inequality, citing the situation as economically and socially perilous.
The organization argues that while ordinary Australians struggle to make ends meet, the super-rich continue to amass substantial fortunes, often with minimal effort.
The analysis from Oxfam indicates that the average wealth of those in the bottom 50% of the population has stagnated at around $28,000 over the past decade, severely limiting chances for homeownership or financial stability.
In contrast, Harry Triguboff, Australia's largest property developer and the second-richest individual, saw his wealth double from $13.7 billion in 2016 to $29.7 billion in 2025, an amount sufficient to purchase over 30,000 average Australian homes.
The Australian housing crisis has worsened concurrently with the rise in billionaire wealth.
A recent Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare Australia found that only 0.7% of rental listings are affordable for individuals earning a full-time minimum wage, while just 12.8% are within reach for a family of four earning two minimum wage incomes.
For those reliant on government support such as JobSeeker or the Disability Support Pension, affordable rental options are nearly nonexistent.
Furthermore, the 2024 PropTrack Housing Affordability Report found that housing affordability is at a record low.
A typical household earning a combined income of $112,000 a year can afford only 14% of homes sold nationwide.
To purchase half of homes sold, households now require a significantly higher income of approximately $213,000 annually.
In response to the growing concerns over wealth inequality, Oxfam is urging the federal government to conduct an extensive review of the tax system to address the wealth accumulation among the super-rich.
The organization proposes implementing a wealth tax targeting the richest one percent, which they claim could raise billions in revenue annually for critical sectors such as healthcare, affordable housing, and climate action.
Muli highlighted that billionaires currently face an effective global tax rate of around 0.3% of their wealth, illustrating the limitations of the current income tax framework in adequately taxing wealth derived from assets.
According to the Australian Financial Review's Rich List released recently, the total wealth of Australia's richest 200 individuals has surged by 160% over the past decade, reaching a staggering $667.8 billion in 2025.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart leads the list for the sixth consecutive year, boasting an estimated net worth of $38.1 billion.
This wealth stands in stark contrast to the median personal income in Australia, which, as reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is $55,062 annually.
The anti-poverty organization Oxfam has pointed to property as the primary source of wealth accumulation for the nation’s richest citizens.
Their analysis indicates that the collective wealth of the billionaires could buy over 680,000 average Australian homes, based on the mean dwelling price of $976,800.
This growing wealth disparity is evidenced further by the fact that the number of billionaires in Australia has more than doubled over the past decade, rising from 74 in 2015 to 161 in 2025.
During this period, the wealth of these billionaires has been increasing at an average rate of more than $137 million daily, which translates to approximately $95,000 every minute.
To illustrate this disparity, the average billionaire now possesses over 116,000 times the wealth of individuals in the bottom 50% of the population.
Oxfam Australia's acting chief, Chrisanta Muli, echoed concerns about rising inequality, citing the situation as economically and socially perilous.
The organization argues that while ordinary Australians struggle to make ends meet, the super-rich continue to amass substantial fortunes, often with minimal effort.
The analysis from Oxfam indicates that the average wealth of those in the bottom 50% of the population has stagnated at around $28,000 over the past decade, severely limiting chances for homeownership or financial stability.
In contrast, Harry Triguboff, Australia's largest property developer and the second-richest individual, saw his wealth double from $13.7 billion in 2016 to $29.7 billion in 2025, an amount sufficient to purchase over 30,000 average Australian homes.
The Australian housing crisis has worsened concurrently with the rise in billionaire wealth.
A recent Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare Australia found that only 0.7% of rental listings are affordable for individuals earning a full-time minimum wage, while just 12.8% are within reach for a family of four earning two minimum wage incomes.
For those reliant on government support such as JobSeeker or the Disability Support Pension, affordable rental options are nearly nonexistent.
Furthermore, the 2024 PropTrack Housing Affordability Report found that housing affordability is at a record low.
A typical household earning a combined income of $112,000 a year can afford only 14% of homes sold nationwide.
To purchase half of homes sold, households now require a significantly higher income of approximately $213,000 annually.
In response to the growing concerns over wealth inequality, Oxfam is urging the federal government to conduct an extensive review of the tax system to address the wealth accumulation among the super-rich.
The organization proposes implementing a wealth tax targeting the richest one percent, which they claim could raise billions in revenue annually for critical sectors such as healthcare, affordable housing, and climate action.
Muli highlighted that billionaires currently face an effective global tax rate of around 0.3% of their wealth, illustrating the limitations of the current income tax framework in adequately taxing wealth derived from assets.
