Australia is becoming more unfair, according to research by Anglicare, the charity which helps the poor and homeless.
It has looked at the gap between rich and poor and found that it has widened over the last 20 years. It blames the tax system and the way governments have favoured those at the top end.
"The wealthiest Australians hold 90 times the wealth of those with the least," it said as it published its report, Widening the Gap.
The other main conclusions of its research were that:
- The widening gap in wealth was "fuelled by tax breaks for superannuation and housing investments";
- High house prices have fuelled inequality and locked many people out of housing and financial security.
The organisation which is linked to the Anglican church said that rates of capital gains tax helped the wealthy more than those with fewer assets.
Those at the economic top end, the research indicated, were also favoured by tax breaks for those with high borrowings - and that disproportionately helped people with money.
Anglicare Australia's director Kasy Chambers said that the government should "tax income from investments fairly".
"People who earn income from work are paying more tax than people who earn income from their wealth," she said.
"That needs to change if we want to make our tax system fairer."
"Our research also shows that inequality has been turbocharged by tax breaks that help people who are already wealthy build big superannuation balances, property portfolios, and investments," she said.
"We should be using our tax system to make Australia fairer. Instead, government policies are driving inequality and making it worse. The good news is that we know what needs to be done to turn this around.
"We are calling on the government to wind back generous superannuation concessions for people who don't need them, and focus instead on helping people on low incomes build their retirement savings."
She also said that helping house buyers through the tax system had "pushed housing costs up to record highs."
"Capital Gains Tax discounts and negative gearing deductions are being used to build wealth for investors instead of being used to boost social housing.
"Making these changes is about stopping inequality from getting worse, protecting our community from disunity, and restoring the faith of Australians that government can work for them."
