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Both rich and poor households have strongly grown their disposable income during the most recent reporting period.
The average gross disposable income of Australian households grew 58 per cent between 2003/2004 and 2011/2012, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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Australia’s richest 20 per cent of households enjoyed 62 per cent growth.
All the other income quintiles grew above 50 per cent but below the average rate of 58 per cent.
Spokesperson Amanda Seneviratne said Australians could largely thank rising salaries and wages for their higher disposable incomes.
The exception was the bottom 20 per cent of households for whom welfare was the major contributor in disposable income growth, she added.
Ms Seneviratne said the new research also revealed which household groups are driving the growth in income, consumption, savings and wealth in the national accounts.
"For example, we can see that households with two adults and dependent children were responsible for about one-third of the growth in household gross disposable income,” she said.
“Or that households where the reference person was aged 35 to 44 years had an increase in income tax of $9,000 ... which was above the average increase of $4,500.”
[Related: ABS finds Australia wealthier, smarter but not fairer]
