Dramatic economic and social inequalities have become a feature of modern Australia. As the society as a whole has become more wealthy the wealth has been spread very unevenly. Yet there is still a widespread, lingering attachment to egalitarian ideals. This interesting situation requires careful analysis.

Some people have huge incomes, most notably the corporate executives whose prodigious remuneration packages now sometimes exceed $20 million annually. Others, including members of some well-known family dynasties, have vast accumulated wealth: the assets of the richest two hundred wealth holders currently range from $196 million to $7.1 billion. Regularly celebrating these concentrations of wealth, magazines such as Business Review Weekly and Wealth Creators illustrate the media's tendency to identify success in terms of material prosperity. The conspicuously luxurious lifestyles of the wealthy shape broader social aspirations, often engendering feelings of personal deprivation among people with incomes that, in much of the rest of the world, would also be regarded as affluent.

Other Australians face more tangible economic hardships and insecurity. Many are struggling to meet their expenditure commitments, particularly because housing costs have risen rapidly in the last two decades. Industrial relations policies have increased the downward pressure on the wages of the less well-organised sections of the workforce. Having a job is no longer sufficient to escape the risk of sliding into poverty.