Australia's billionaires have seen their collective wealth surge by $25.67 billion over the past year, according to new analysis by Oxfam Australia of the 2026 Australian Financial Review Rich List. The total wealth of the country's billionaires now exceeds $686 billion, while Acoss figures show 3,706,000 people live in poverty, including 757,000 children under 15.
One in three households experienced food insecurity last year, meaning they struggled to put food on the table. Australia now has its highest number of billionaires on record at 178, up 17 from last year. New additions to the list include AI-driven jobs platform founder Katrina Leslie, fashion label White Fox founders Daniel and Georgia Contos, and property developers Anthony El-Hazouri and Charbel Hazzouri.
Oxfam said the 20 richest Australians now hold more wealth than the bottom 3 million households. Oxfam Australia's chief executive, Jennifer Tierney, said the figures highlighted a widening gap between the wealthy and ordinary households. 'There is something fundamentally wrong with a system where extreme wealth keeps skyrocketing while so many people are struggling to afford the basics,' she said.
The increase in billionaire wealth in the past year alone could have lifted nearly a million Australians out of poverty or covered household electricity bills for every Australian household for over a year, Tierney said. She noted that while the budget included some welcome measures to ease pressure on households, it did not go far enough to address wealth inequality.
'A fairer approach to taxing extreme wealth would help ensure governments can properly invest in affordable housing, healthcare, climate action and support for communities doing it tough,' she added.
