According to a new report, the gap between rich and poor in Australia is becoming wider.
Despite strong employment growth and the rise of real wages over the last few decades most of that has gone to the already wealthy in Australia.
Julia Calixto reports.
Australia's rich are getting richer, but the country's poorest are not.
That's according to a new study by the Australian Council of Social Service - or ACOSS.
The report titled 'Inequality in Australia' was launched by ACOSS CEO, Dr Cassandra Goldie, in the western Sydney suburb of Mt Druitt.
"Whilst overall we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world and we have had over two decades of economic growth, quite clearly we are leading to greater inequality. Between the people who are doing well, the accumulation of wealth and those who are really struggling when it comes to the income they are on."
The report found Australian's top earners - in the top 20 per cent of incomes - recieve five times as much as those in the bottom 20 per cent.
They own a staggering 70 times the wealth of the bottom 20 per cent.
Dr Goldie, says the inequality gap in Australia is widening.
Inequality in Australia is now above the OECD average.
It's not as as high as the US or the UK.
But Dr Goldie says Australia is definitely going down the wrong path.
"With the policies that we've got right now, we are going in the wrong direction. When you've got that kind of concentration it's bad for economic growth."
One resident of Mount Druitt, Christie, says life for the country's poorest is tough, especially due to recent cuts by the federal government.
"We are struggling in homelessness with funding for us kids who are homeless. Like me, myself, I am finding it hard and struggle living out of home and in a refuge and their funding is cutting and they can only keep us kids for so long until they move us on."
The issues facing Australians in low socio-economic brackets were highlighted in the recent SBS documentary series 'Struggle Street'.
Today, residents from the suburb say they feel they've been left behind.
"Voxie: They're not caring about Mr Druitt they're caring about all the rich places not the poor, you know what I mean, they just left us.
Reporter: Do you feel like Mt Druitt has been forgotten a little bit?
Voxie: Yeah, definitely just look around you don't see no one with a job around here. If you actually look around there's a lot of good people but they don't have enough money, they can't make a living you know what I mean?"
Despite the financial struggles experienced by some in Mount Druitt, the report found Australians are more likely to be unemployed or poor in Tasmania or South Australia
The Salvation Army's Ronda McIntyre says federal funding cuts mean the community's most needy are going with out essential services.
She says it's important people remember this story is not just about the alarming statistics, but the Australians who are suffering.
"Behind the dollars and the data which are very important, sit people, ordinary Australians who are really struggling out there. We're seeing a sense of hopelessness that people are experiencing, driving people to the extremes."
