Bernard Salt is one of Australia’s leading social commentators and business analysts. 

Bernard draws upon vast datasets to interpret the overall trajectory of social change in the past… and into the future. He argues that social and cultural change are rising forces that are reshaping the way we live, how we work and even how we form relationships.

Bernard writes two weekly columns for The Australian newspaper that deal with social, generational and demographic matters.

He was an adjunct professor at Curtin University Business School between 2010 and 2020 and he holds a Master of Arts degree from Monash University.

Bernard is one of the most in-demand speakers on the Australian corporate speaking circuit and has been so for more than a decade.

He is perhaps best known to the wider community for his penchant for identifying and tagging new tribes and social behaviours such as the “Seachange Shift”, the “Man Drought”, “PUMCINS” (pronounced “pumkins”) and the “Goats Cheese Curtain’. He was also responsible for popularising smashed avocados globally.

Bernard has popularised demographics through his books, columns and media appearances. His body of work is summarised in six popular best-selling books. Bernard appears regularly on radio and television programs and recently hosted a business television program “The Next Five Years” on SkyNews Business Channel 602.

In conjunction with KPMG Australia he hosts a top-rated podcast called “What Happens Next” which discusses rising trends and important business issues.

He was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2017 Australia Day honours.

Bernard is an experienced and compelling speaker. His presentations are always energetic, edgy and at times laugh-out-loud funny. His observations are insightful and his material is fact-based and tailored to individual audiences.

Bernard speaks at all kinds of business events including keynotes at conferences, workshops, off-site retreats and boardroom briefings. He speaks regularly throughout Australia and New Zealand and internationally several times per year.

The Age has described his style as “part stand-up comedian, part number-crunching economist.” One journalist has described him as “quick witted and dynamic as a public speaker … articulate and holds an audience exceptionally well.”

Bernard predicted the seachange shift last decade and in fact popularised the term nationally.  Bernard was also one the first commentators to cite the rise of different workplace expectations between the generations.

However Bernard is perhaps best known over recent years for his popularising of the term “smashed avocado” which is now recognised globally as a symbol of intergenerational differences. He used the term in a satirical column published in 2016 and since then it has spread globally. The Americans for example now refer to the avocado toast generation.

The Australian says that “Bernard Salt cuts, slices and dices contemporary Australia with a precision no other social commentator can match.”