We document the evolution of earnings in Australia from 1991 to 2020 using a 10% sample of administrative tax records (ALife). Adopting Global Repository of Income Dynamics (GRID) methods, we construct harmonised statistics on earnings inequality, mobility and idiosyncratic risk for earners aged 25-55. Three facts stand out. First, inequality rose through the 1990s-2000s—driven by rapid gains at the top—and declined in the 2010s as top-end growth stalled and women recorded sustained improvements across cohorts and income ranks, especially at the bottom. Second, cohort evidence shows a shifting balance between entry conditions and life-cycle reshuffling: for older cohorts, within-career shocks added materially to dispersion, whereas for younger cohorts larger disparities at labour market entry account for more of lifetime inequality. Third, idiosyncratic earnings risk is asymmetric and cyclical: downside shock volatility is higher for women and intensifies during slowdowns, although upward mobility over working life remains strong by international standards. Thus, the rise and subsequent moderation of inequality largely reflect where growth was concentrated (top-heavy earlier, bottom-heavy for women later), rather than a structural shift in movement through the distribution or in exposure to downside risk. Extending beyond labour earnings, taxes and transfers compress inequality and dampen instability at the bottom. Together, these facts provide a long-run, internationally comparable picture of earnings dynamics in an economy with sustained growth and extensive fiscal redistribution.