Theme: Prosperous
Dimension: Dynamic economy that shares prosperity
Metric
Gini coefficient for income and wealth
Why does this matter
The distribution of income and wealth is an important aspect of community wellbeing. One measure to assess how equally income and wealth is distributed across the community is the Gini coefficient. A Gini coefficient can range between 0 and 1, with a lower Gini coefficient representing a more equal distribution.
Has there been progress
Income inequality has remained relatively steady since 2007–08, with the Gini coefficient for equivalised household disposable income sitting at 0.32 in 2019–20. In 2020, Australia’s Gini coefficient for income indicated that Australia had the 14th highest level of inequality of the 28 OECD countries for which data was available for that year.1
Wealth is typically distributed less equally than income. Wealth inequality has remained steady over time, with the Gini coefficient for wealth increasing marginally from 0.60 in 2007–08 to 0.61 in 2019–20.
1 OECD Data (2020) Income inequality, accessed 3 July 2023.