Australia's richest earners own almost half the nation's wealth, and earn nine times what the poorest do.
A new report from the OECD shows while inequality in the country has increased since the 1990s, it's still below the average of other comparable countries.
While the top 10 per cent get nine times more money than the bottom 10 per cent, that's slightly better than the OECD average, which is 9.6 times more.
Poverty rates are slightly above the OECD average but have not increased since 2007.
That is largely because since the global financial crisis, middle-income earners' wealth increased at a much faster rate than the top earners.
The country's highest earners own 45 per cent of wealth, compared to half of all wealth on average across the OECD.
INEQUALITY IN AUSTRALIA:
* Top 10 per cent of earners' income is almost nine times higher than that of the bottom 10 per cent
* In mid-1990s that was eight times higher
* Poverty among the elderly has declined substantially by five per cent for 66-75 year olds
* At 33.5 per cent, it still remains more than 2.5 times higher than the OECD average
* Wealth inequality in Australia is just below OECD average: top 10 per cent own 45 per cent of wealth, compared to half of all wealth on average across OECD
* The bottom quintile own 17 per cent of all wealth.
SOURCE: "Why Less Inequality Benefits All" - OECD.
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