These charts show average weekly household incomes (including social security payments and after tax has been deducted), by household income group in 2015-16 and 2017-18. For this purpose, individuals have been divided into five equal groups ranked by household income. At the highest and lowest ends of the income scale, extra columns have been added to show the average household incomes of the highest and lowest 10% and 5%.
2019-20: The highest 20% income group received $4,306 per week after tax ($305,000 per year before tax) twice the disposable income of the middle 20% ($1,989 per week or $122,000 per annum) and five times that of the lowest 20% ($794 per week or $43,000 per annum). The highest 5% (with $6,495 per week or $569,000 per annum) had three times the disposable income of the middle 20% and eight times that of the lowest 20%.
2017-18: A person in the highest 20% of households has $4,166 per week, more than twice the income of the middle 20% ($1,884 per week) and nearly 6 times that of the lowest 20% ($753 per week). The highest 5% (with $6,796 per week) has nearly 4 times the income of the middle 20% and 9 times that of the lowest 20%.
2015-16: A person in the highest 20% group lives in a household with more than twice the average disposable income of the middle 20% ($3,978 per week compared with $1,779. The average household income of the middle 20% ($1,779 a week) is two and half times that of the lowest 20% ($735). At the extremes of the income scale, the average household income of the lowest 5% is $436. In contrast, the average household income of the highest 5% is $6,063.