Recent trends in income redistribution in Australia: Can changes in the tax-benefit system account for the decline in redistribution?

We examine trends in the redistributive impact of the tax-beneÖt system in Australia between 1994 and 2009 using a framework that allows us to separate the contributions of taxes, beneÖts and taxes and beneÖts combined. Furthermore, we identify the e§ect of tax-beneÖt policy reforms on income redistribution over the period. We Önd that after reaching a peak value in the late 1990s, the redistributive e§ect of taxes and beneÖts declined sharply. Although reforms to the tax-beneÖt system contributed to the decline in redistribution, their contribution was limited compared to the role played by the changes in market income distribution.