Australia's billionaires earning average of $67,000 per hour

Report highlights 'unimaginable' wage gap between execs, workers

Australia's billionaires earning average of $67,000 per hour

Australia's wealth gap continues to grow, with new data from Oxfam revealing that the country's 47 billionaires earned an average of $67,000 per hour in 2024.

That’s 1,000 times more than the median hourly wage of the average Australian worker.

Meanwhile, the wealth of Australia's billionaires surged by eight per cent over the past year, increasing by $28 billion, or $3.2 million every hour.

"The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable," said Oxfam Australia Chief Executive Lyn Morgain in a statement.

"The shameful failure to stop billionaires hoarding their wealth will soon result in the spawning of trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated — by three times in the past year alone — but so too has their power."

The average annual salary for Chief Executive Officer roles in Australia ranges from $200,000 to $220,000, according to SEEK, far higher than what lower-ranking employees make.

Highest-paid CEOs

The highest-paid Australia CEO for 2024 is Shemara Wikramanayake, CEO of Macquarie Group, with a reported pay of $29.4 million, the Australian Financial Review reported.

The AFR's list include:

  1. Shemara Wikramanayake (Macquarie Group) - $29.4 million
  2. Aaron Erter (James Hardie) - $22.8 million
  3. Michael Farrell (ResMed) - $21.24 million
  4. Tom Palmer (Newmont) - $17.8 million
  5. Gregory Goodman (Goodman) - $14.97 million
  6. Victor Herrero (formerly Lovisa) - $13.9 million
  7. Paul McKenzie (CSL) - $12.31 million
  8. Ryan Stokes (SGH) - $11.69 million
  9. Peter Konieczny (Amcor) - $11.25 million
  10. Michael Henry (BHP) - $11.03 million

This rate of wealth accumulation starkly contrasts with the financial struggles of everyday Australians, who continue to feel the pressure of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Salaries in Australia

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that the median hourly earnings in Australia were $40.00 in August 2024, reflecting a small increase of $0.30 from the previous year.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

In addition, the seasonally adjusted Wage Price Index (WPI) rose 0.8% for the September quarter and 3.5% over the year. Both the private and public sectors showed a 0.8% increase, seasonally adjusted, for the quarter.

The largest industry contributors to quarterly wage growth were Healthcare and social assistance (+1.7%), Retail trade (+2.1%), and Administrative and support services (+2.1%).

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Meanwhile, the wealth of Australia's billionaires surged by eight per cent over the past year, increasing by $28 billion, or $3.2 million every hour.

Salary budgets going up

Amid these growing disparities, salary budgets for Australian workers are expected to remain stable in 2025.

According to Mercer's latest Australian Salary Outlook for 2025, the overall salary increase budget is forecast to stay at four percent, the same as the median total salary increase in the past two years.

"As employee turnover eased back to pre-pandemic levels and demand for new hires begins to soften, the overall salary increase budget stabilised in 2024 and is forecast to remain at four percent in 2025," the report stated.