Over the last twenty years the Australian population has faced a series of economic instabilities which have seen the gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" widen. To determine who the "haves" and "have-nots" are, an in-depth investigation will be conducted examining the circumstances under which the gap can be manipulated. The economic well-being of individuals is largely determined by their control over economic resources (ABS, 2009). The wealth of individuals classified as "haves" are usually asset-rich people, who hold bonds, stocks and are quite wealthy. Welfare individuals classified as “have-nots” are usually the working poor, who have few resources and few investments, such as bonds. These individuals are usually middle income earners and classified as in relative poverty. Relative poverty defined by L. Kirkwood, I. Searle, T. Cronk, D. Cave and J. Swiericzuk as the situation of people whose income and lifestyle have fallen, by more than a certain degree, below the income and of the average lifestyle enjoyed by the rest of society. The top and bottom quintiles are represented by the top 20%, however over the past two decades Australians are noticing a change in the inequality gap. In Australia, a study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that in 1994-1995 the lowest quintile of income earners was 7.9%, while in 2007-2008 it was 7.6%, which means that over the 17 years there was an increase in the bottom quintile of 0.3%. The highest quintile in the years 1994-1995 was 37.8%, increased in the 17 years between the two recordings and in 2007-2008 was observed to be higher by 1.6% at 39.4%. This data indicates that the percentage of people in the lower end… middle of the paper… come to Australia. This report analyzed the rise of poverty in Australia and ultimately the inequality gap between low income earners and high income earners. It is evident that although the boundary between inequality and equality is unlikely to be reached, it is important that individuals in society receive social justice. Works Cited The Distribution of Wealth in Australia by Frank Stilwell and David Primrose (2007) http://evatt.labor .net.au/publications/papers/226.html accessed 17 May 2011 http://mrwood.com.au /unit1/distinc/distinc1.asp http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@. nsf/ProductsbyCatalogue/5F4BB49C975C64C9CA256D6B00827ADB?OpenDocumenthttp://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/7C603E82C20B682ECA25738D000F4F0A/$File/65540_2 00 5-06.pdfWelfare (2011) http://www.aihw. gov Accessed .au/expenditure-faq/#welfare in June 2, 2011