1. Georgina Rinehart

•  Net Worth: $17 B                                                                      
•  Source of Wealth: mining
•  Citizen: Australia
•  Age: 59

Earning about a billion dollars a year from the iron ore and coal projects she owns in Australia, Rinehart's fortune of $17 billion makes her the richest person in the country and the No. 5 wealthiest woman in the world. With her fortune more than double of Ivan Glasenberg, Georgina Rinehart aka Gina Rinehart is the richest person in Australia. She is the Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting which is a privately owned mining firm.

2. Ivan Glasenberg

•  Net Worth: $6.7 B                                                                      
•  Source of Wealth: commodities
•  Citizen: Australia
•  Age: 56

Ivan Glasenberg, the chief executive of mining and trading giant Glencore International, landed the deal of a lifetime in 2012 by orchestrating the takeover of mining company Xstrata. The deal still faces hurdles but once it's final--the closing is expected by March 15--Glasenberg will emerge as the new company's CEO and second-biggest shareholder after the emirate of Qatar.

3. James Packer

•  Net Worth: $6 B                                                                      
•  Source of Wealth: gaming
•  Citizen: Australia
•  Age: 46

James Packer severed his family's deep ties to the media sector in 2012 when he sold pay-TV company Consolidated Media Holdings to Newscorp., pocketing $1 billion. That leaves him to focus on his gaming empire Crown Ltd., which owns casinos in Australia and has a joint venture in Macau. Packer inherited a $5 billion business when his father Kerry Packer died in late 2005. The family fortune was built on media assets. James operates a charitable foundation named for his father. He seeded it with $10 million in 2006. He has been a strong supporter of a program to help indigenous Australians move into corporate jobs. In December 2012 he took delivery of a $20 million super-yacht called Seahorse. His second wife, Erica Baxter, is an Australian pop singer and model.

4. Andrew Forrest

•  Net Worth: $5.7 B                                                                      
•  Source of Wealth: mining
•  Citizen: Australia
•  Age: 51

Born in Perth, Andrew Forrest is a mining billionaire from Australia and fourth wealthiest person in his homeland. He derives his wealth from Fortescue Metals Group in which he holds major stocks. This makes him one of the richest people in Australia. Starting his career as a stockbroker, he has  donated millions for fighting poverty among the poor aborigines.

5. Frank Lowy

•  Net Worth: $5.3 B                                                                      
•  Source of Wealth: shopping malls
•  Citizen: Australia
•  Age: 83

Frank Lowy is founder of one of the world's biggest listed retail property groups, Westfield, which owns 104 shopping malls in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., the U.S. and Brazil. He enjoyed a $1 billion jump in wealth as his Westfield Stratford City--opened in September 2011 near the London Olympics site--proved a huge success.

6. Harry Triguboff

•  Net Worth: $4.5 B                                                                      
•  Source of Wealth: real estate
•  Citizen: Australia
•  Age: 80

Harry Triguboff was one of the first Australian developers to see the potential of apartment living at a time when most of his countrymen aspired to a suburban block. In 50 years he has put up more than 55,000 apartments, earning him the nickname "High Rise Harry." His company, Meriton, has made the best of a sales downturn by ramping up serviced-apartment offerings in Sydney and in Australia's Gold Coast and buying inexpensive development sites.

7. John Gandel

•  Net Worth: $3.5 B                                                                      
•  Source of Wealth: shopping malls
•  Citizen: Australia
•  Age: 79

John Gandel's investments in listed property companies helped lift the Melbourne tycoon's net worth. He first got rich expanding his Polish immigrant parents' women's clothing chain, Sussan, but his real wealth came from the shopping malls he bought from Myer department stores for $37 million in the 1980s. He owns 50% of Chadstone, the largest shopping center in Australia, which has plans to add a $525 million hotel and office tower. He donates money to health care, the arts and Jewish education. He and wife Pauline collect Japanese art.

8. Kerr Neilson

•  Net Worth: $2.7 B                                                                      
•  Source of Wealth: finance
•  Citizen: Australia
•  Age: 64

Kerr Neilson is often compared to Warren Buffett because of his contrarian, value-based approach to investing. A native of Johannesburg, he bought his first stock at 13. He moved to Sydney in 1983 and started international equities specialist Platinum Asset Management in 1993 with George Soros as a founding stakeholder. He owns 57% after partially cashing out in a well-timed 2007 public offering.

9. Paul Ramsay

•  Net Worth: $2.5 B                                                                      
•  Source of Wealth: hospitals
•  Citizen: Australia
•  Age: 77

One of the wealthiest men from Sydney, Paul Ramsay founded Ramsay Health Care. His firm manages more than 100 hospitals in Australia as well as across Europe. He first started with a private psychiatric hospital and then wen on to make money by starting more hospitals.

10. David Hains

•  Net Worth: $2.3 B                                                                      
•  Source of Wealth: finance
•  Citizen: Australia
•  Age: 82

David Hains owns one of Australia's biggest and most private hedge funds, Portland House Group, based in his hometown of Melbourne. He later became well-known for restructuring companies like U.S. steelmaker Wheeling-Pittsburgh. He is also an active horse breeder and racer though his Kingston Park Stud.