There is no doubt that in our interconnected world , the G20 has a critical role to play in driving inclusive growth , creating jobs and increasing global living standards . As a long-time advocate for reducing inequality -- or to put it another way , upping the fairness factor in local and global economies alike -- I am heartened to hear world leaders and policy-makers increasingly agree that growing inequality is undesirable . But while we all agree that the world is facing an unprecedented number of large-scale , complex economic challenges , there remains heated discussion about the policy fixes needed . The diagnoses of the world 's ills are increasingly in alignment -- even News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch recently expressed concern about rising inequality -- but the suggested cures are fiercely contested . Wealth gap increasingly 'obscene ' As economist Thomas Piketty so eloquently argued this year , wealth and the return on capital are growing faster than the overall economy and income from labor . Making matters worse , labor income is becoming increasingly skewed , with an ever increasing share going to a small band of top earners . This means we are approaching levels of inequality in wealth and income that are increasingly difficult to justify , increasingly obscene , and are an increasing drag on productivity and growth . Inequality of this magnitude undermines the basic notions of trust , fairness , and social cohesion that underpin our economies and societies . That 's why civil society wants G20 nations to embed equity in their country growth plans by measuring improvements in the incomes of the bottom 20 % of households . The G20 's commitment to pursuing economic growth of two percentage points above current targets over the next five years is welcome . But the success of the Brisbane talks must also be viewed through the lens of fairness . Leaders must be held to account for ensuring the benefits of growth are spread more widely . G20 needs to change . Just as the G20 has evolved in recent years from a gathering of finance ministers to include national leaders , the involvement of non-government organizations in G20 meetings and decision-making is a reflection of the realities of contemporary governing and policy making . Put simply : the continuing relevance and legitimacy of the G20 as an effective global economic policy-making body is reliant on it being more people-focused . That means the realization among global policy agenda-setters that inequality and exclusion stifles economic growth must drive better responses to addressing the economic impact of climate change , for example , and the establishment of robust post-2015 sustainable development goals . The way forward . The Australian presidency has no less a task than securing the G20 's future . The jury is still out on whether its outreach to non-government actors and , importantly , to developing nations is enough to deliver this . Consider the key agenda item of driving jobs growth . Governments must work with the corporate sector and the community as equal partners to provide real and quality jobs in the formal sector of the economy , with social and legal protections so that all workers , especially those from vulnerable groups , have the opportunity for improved participation . The G20 is also poised to make genuine progress on glaring faults in global governance , via its tax reform and transparency agenda . The potential benefits of coordinated action to increase transparency range from strengthening efforts to combat corruption and money laundering , to finally countering tax evasion and avoidance . It 's time to end tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions , and the practices that allow earnings to be `` washed '' or hidden , as well as the lax residency standards and treaty shopping that allow profit shifting . Aggressive tax planning alone is estimated to cost developing nations billions of dollars a year . These are the same countries which rely heavily on foreign aid and lack the resources to deal with poverty or fund essential health care and education services . As governments of wealthy and developing nations alike decry their ability to `` afford '' to meet the growing demands placed on them by their citizens , they surely have no excuse to ignore the policy levers they have at their disposal to plug leaky and opaque tax systems . Is it too much to ask that adequate health services , better education opportunities and even clean water no longer remain hostage to capricious and shady global tax arrangements ? I 'd say it 's only fair for the G20 to act .
G20 leaders are meeting in Brisbane to agree ways to boost global growth . C20 chief Tim Costello says wealth gap is rising and becoming `` increasingly obscene '' Equity needs to be embedded in country growth plans , he says . Incomes of the bottom 20 % of households should be measured .