Australian household income grew by an average of 58 per cent in the years from 2003/04 to 2011/12, according to new Australian Bureau of Statistics data drawn from the National Accounts.The highest household net worth quintile grew income by 68.2 per cent over that period.The lowest quintile also recorded above-average growth of 61.5 per cent. However, social assistance benefits were a substantial contributor to growth in this category, with households in quintile one receiving 1.45 times the average social benefits assistance of all households.The biggest contributor to overall income growth was "compensation of employees", which made up 41.4 percentage points of the 58 per cent increase. Households with wages and salaries as their main source of income had the biggest increases. In comparison, households whose main income was business, property or superannuation income had more modest increases.Growth in property income was a significant factor for households in the highest quintile.The impact of interest payable on household debt was to reduce the growth in disposable income by an average of 7.6 per cent. The impact of debt was most pronounced on the highest quintile, whose income was reduced by 10.7 per cent due to interest payments, and on the lowest quintile, where income was reduced by 8.1 per cent as a result of interest payments.