FACTBase Bulletin 5 - Is Perth Becoming More Unequal?

This paper builds on FACTBase Bulletin 1 and examines how Perth's recent resources boom has affected levels of socio-economic wellbeing.

Key Findings

• While the financial position of most of the people in Perth improved from 2000-2007, most of the benefits of the boom were concentrated amongst a group of relatively wealthy suburbs.
• The Gini coefficient for Perth increased from 4.1 to 4.8, meaning that wealth had become more concentrated in a smaller area of Perth.
• The rising of the Gini coefficient was a national trend, not unique to Perth alone as it was spurred on by the decline of the mining boom around late 2007.
• Spatial inequality was much higher in Sydney and Melbourne than in Perth, where Sydney had the greatest gap of inequality.
• In light of another economic boom in Western Australia and renewed investment in the resources industry, a more positive economic outlook, strong population growth ad urban expansion all suggest issues of inequality are not over for Perth.