Bernard Salt AM

Bernard Salt is widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading social commentators.

He has written six popular best-selling books, hosted a TV show on SkyNEWS Business called “The Next Five Years” and hosted a top-rated podcast called “What Happens Next”

Bernard Salt is also one of Australia’s most in-demand corporate speakers.

After a 20-year career as a Partner in a global advisory firm, Bernard founded The Demographics Group to provide advice to business on demographic, social and property trends.

He is best known to the wider community for his penchant for identifying new social behaviours including “the goat’s cheese curtain.”

Bernard has been a columnist with The Australian newspaper for more than 20 years. His column in The Weekend Australian Magazine is highly regarded and widely read.

Bernard was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2017 Australia Day honours for his services to the Australian people via demography.

And finally, Bernard is the person responsible for popularising the phrase “smashed avocado” … globally!

Bernard Salt talks about:

1. Customer of the Future (new markets & behaviours) – Lifestyle obsessed, home focussed, tech-savvy customers of the future will demand more for less
2. Shallower Labour Pools – Plummeting fertility rates (globally) are reducing the working-age population and driving up demand for automation
3. The Way We Work – The rise of remote work feeds into the next generation’s desire to have greater control over how workplace value is delivered
4. Regions on the Rise (new drivers of growth) – Post-Covid lifestylers, downshifting boomers, Millennials on the move plus a surge in demand for agribusiness is reimagining regional Australia
5. 2021 Census Highlights – Working from home, uptick in McMansions, the coming of Carmageddon, mental health concerns plus the meteoric rise of aged & disabled carers
6. Millennial Spending Boom – Over the balance of the 2020s Millennials (born 1983-2001) will pass into their 40s and unleash a tidal wave of consumer and household spending
7. Change of Direction (Sectors on the Rise) – Post-pandemic Australia driving demand for agribusiness, mining (especially lithium), defence (material), industrial space, housing (including affordable & social) and, above all, aged & disabled care
8. In Search of Skills (tapping labour pools) – Australia desperately needs skilled workers in healthcare, engineering, data science, trades especially building & construction as well as unskilled workers
9. Australia@2030 (businesses to be in) – Australia at 30 million by 2030 has a revitalised manufacturing sector, cities built around 20-min hubs, rising agribusiness sector, agile workforce and challenges in aged care
10. The Great Tech Shift (apps for absolutely everything) – Out with call centres in with the great appification as B2C communication shifts from in-person calls to apps, AI and chatbots in a world where customers are evermore tech-savvy