Economic Equity and Major Development

It matters not whether one looks at labour income or non-labour income or at different measures of income/wealth concentration, inequality has been increasing within and across many countries throughout the last few decades (Jaumotte et al., 2013). Australia is no exception: indeed on some measures, this country is more ‘unequal’ than the majority of other OECD countries (specifically, the gap between the poorest and the richest 10% of households). Most notable, has been the recent rise in the share of total income that has gone to the richest 1% of Australians: in 1980 the richest 1% received just 5% of all income, but by 2008 the richest 1% were receiving almost 12% of income – the fourth highest of all OECD countries (Hoeller et al., 2012). Thus, despite Australia’s progressive tax system, and targeted cash transfers which seek to redistribute incomes, its above-average wage dispersion, and its large share of part-time/casual workers (Watson, 2013) means that household disposable incomes are unevenly distributed and are becoming even more unequal over time (Hoeller et al. 2012). Regional inequality has also risen sharply in recent times (Rodriguez-Pose, 2012).