Australian billionaires increased their wealth by almost $600,000 a day on average over the past year, or more than $10.5bn collectively, new analysis by Oxfam reveals.
The anti-poverty organisation, which released the information in a report on Monday, used its findings to call for an end to negative gearing and capital gains discounts, concessions which are now being examined in a federal inquiry.
Eight new Australian billionaires have been minted since 2020, bringing the total number to 48. Together they hold more wealth than the bottom 40% of the population – about 11 million people – combined.
The average annual wealth increase of one Australian billionaire was equivalent to the annual income of more than 2,000 Australians earning the average wage, the report found. Oxfam relied on data from Forbes’ real-time billionaires list, the World Inequality database and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Jennifer Tierney, chief executive of Oxfam Australia, said the wealth of billionaires globally was “growing at an unprecedented speed, three times faster than we’ve seen it grow in the past”.
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“What we’re seeing is tax systems that work for the wealthy and tax systems that are not working to actually fill the government coffers with money that could provide support for things like housing, or childcare support,” she said.
The new additions to Australia’s billionaire rankings in November 2025, according to Oxfam, include Canva co-founders Cliff Obrecht, Melanie Perkins and Cameron Adams; brothers Alan, John and Bruce Wilson, who own a majority stake in the Reece plumbing and bathroom supply chain; Chemist Warehouse co-founders Jack Gance and Mario Verrocchi and Jack’s brother Sam, the company’s chief property officer; the co-founders of medical imaging software company Pro Medicus, Sam Hupert and Anthony Hall; Ed Kraven, an online gambling magnate; Sam Chong, a coalmine owner; and Michael Heine, a fund manager.
Tierney said Australia should introduce more equitable tax laws including axing the capital gains tax discount for individuals and trusts, phasing out negative gearing and introducing a net wealth tax on the richest 0.5% of households, with rates increasing in accordance with increased wealth.
A 5% wealth tax on Australia’s billionaires just last year could have raised $17.4bn – enough to deliver cheap childcare for all families, extend energy bill relief for another two years and increase the humanitarian budget almost seven times over, Tierney said.
“We have a prime minister who talks about creating a kinder and fairer Australia. The government has the tools to act,” she said.
“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.”
The report said while the number of billionaires is growing, more than 3.7 million people live in poverty in Australia, including 757,000 children under 15 years old. One in three households experienced food insecurity last year, meaning they stressed about or struggled to put food on the table.
“We are still seeing a massive disparity between your average Australian who’s struggling to pay bills and between billionaires who are actually not capable of spending their entire wealth in their lifetime,” Tierney said.
A federal parliamentary inquiry into the 50% capital gains tax (CGT) discount heard last week that tax concessions including negative gearing “skew incentives towards property investment” and undercut policies, including first home buyer assistance.
In a submission to the inquiry, NSW Treasury officials said the CGT discount costs the federal budget about $23bn in forgone revenue, of which about $8.7bn comes from NSW.
“Tax settings, such as the CGT discount, amplify investor purchasing power, compounding these pressures,” the submission said.
“By reducing the effective tax rate on capital gains and allowing tax deferral, the CGT discount increases after-tax returns for investors, enabling them to bid more aggressively.”
