With over 200,000 accountants in Australia (and 35,000+ in public practice), these professionals are the backbone of the country’s economy. Advising small, medium and large businesses, they’re vital to the success of the nation and are Australia’s ‘trusted adviser’.
In terms of GDP, and at pre-COVID levels, if aviation were a country it would rank 20th by size, similar to the GDP of Switzerland or Argentina. The domestic aviation industry is valued at over $46 billion, and adds an additional $18 billion to the Australian economy through enabling tourism, business and other trade. Global commercial airline revenue generates $1.3 trillion (US$872 billion) annually, with over 4.3 billion passengers each year across 38 million scheduled flights.
Cyber security is central to the transition to a digital society. In 2017 alone $2.3 billion was stolen from consumers by cyber criminals; with $2.1 billion per year the estimated impact of identity crime in Australia. Malicious actions from state-backed cyber actors is also expected to spike, with intent to compromise government and business networks to obtain economic, defence, legal, policy, intellectual property and security information for their advantage.
Australia is undertaking the largest build-up of defence capability since the Second World War, with over $270 billion slated for defence acquisition and sustainment during the next decade. Across key programs including the Future Frigate, Future Submarine, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and a range of other billion-dollar programs, the defence sector supports over 3,500 SMEs and large international prime contractors, employing over 25,000 people.
In an industry that generates $4.6 billion in revenue, financial planners develop wealth creation strategies to help Australians better manage their money. With over 25,000 financial planners servicing the 1 in 5 Australians that seek financial advice, it’s an industry poised to realign, readjust and thrive post the royal commission.
As a relatively new industry, fintech defines the intersection of banking and technology. The fintech sector is expected to take $10 billion in aggregated revenues away from the big banks, while contributing $3 billion of new revenue to the Australian financial services sector, by the early 2020s.
Property ownership is highly valued and aspirational in Australian society as it provides security, stability, freedom plus a platform for building future wealth. Representing over 20 per cent of all new home loans, first home buyers are hungry for leadership and information.
Australia’s $2.8 trillion funds management industry is the largest in the Asia-Pacific and sixth in the world. The growth and strength of our domestic managed funds sector is underpinned by a sophisticated investor base, a sound banking system and the development of cutting-edge investment products.
Independent and non-aligned advisers are making a surge as customers seek genuine, non-conflicted advice to support their wealth building strategies post the royal commission. Numbers of advisers, and revenue, is expected to grow rapidly in the years ahead.
The Australian insurance industry is a mature, full-service sector with net-earned-premiums exceeding $32 billion annually. Between 5,000 and 10,000 financial planners specialise in insurance, or provide insurance-only advice. These individuals sell both life and/or risk insurance products, and are referred to as ‘risk advisers’.
Australia has around 112,000 lawyers who are dispersed across law firms, the Bar, the judiciary, in-house legal teams and government departments. Revenue for the legal services sector is expected to exceed $21 billion in FY2021, with demand for valuedadded services relating to M&A, IPOs and restructuring forecast to support 1.6 per cent growth of the sector.
Over 60 per cent of all Australians choose to use a mortgage broker to secure property finance, a market share that’s more than doubled in a decade. With around 20,000 active mortgage and finance brokers servicing the nation’s borrowers, it’s a thriving market that delivers customer outcomes – with 96 per cent of borrowers either satisfied or very satisfied in their experience using a broker.
The Australian residential mortgage market is valued at over $1.5 trillion dollars, supporting Australia’s $6.9 trillion housing market. How residential mortgages are funded, created, managed and distributed is an incredibly dynamic and complex undertaking, involving a wide variety of different specialist organisations from the big four banks, non-major banks, non-banks and mutual lenders.
There are over 2.6 million investment properties in Australia, with over 2.1 million Australians (or around 8 per cent of all Australians) owning one or more investment properties. A vibrant and critical sector for creating wealth for Australians, the property investment sector is expected to remain a pillar to the national economy.
Over 70 per cent of Australia’s 2.6 million investment properties are managed by residential property managers (or managing agents). Rapid technological innovation is assisting this industry, giving today’s property managers an array of tools that allow them to effectively manage more properties leveraging cutting edge technology.
Australia’s residential real estate industry (the rental, hiring and real estate services sector) incorporates over 10,000 of the most innovative and dynamic SMEs in the country, and supports the employment of over 76,000 agents and 218,000 Australians (or 1.7 per cent of the total workforce).
There are now over 600,000 self-managed super funds controlling nearly $700 billion of Australia’s total $2,140 billion in superannuation assets, with SMSF advisers delivering a range of compliance and investment services to this ever-growing group of investors. SMSFs now represent over 33 per cent of all super money held by Australians, compared to retail finds (27 per cent), industry funds (25 per cent) public sector funds (12 per cent) and corporate sector funds (3 per cent).
There are approximately 2.1 million SMEs representing over 97 per cent of all businesses operating in Australia. This cadre of highly-skilled businesses continue to drive the development of the economy, is a major employer of Australian workers, and has an export potential that will help form the basis for much of the nation’s economic growth in the coming years.
Australia’s nascent space economy is currently valued at between $3-4 billion annually, with projections for Australia’s space industry to triple by 2030 to a value of between $10-12 billion. The industry will also support over 20,000 jobs by 2030, representing a significant part of the national economy and a hotbed of innovation that will propel Australia’s space talent and export potential.
Total assets in the Australian superannuation market is over $2.1 trillion. Retail and industry funds, plus public sector funds and corporate super funds, equate for over 60 per cent of total super money held by Australians – with total fund asset values across the entire superannuation sector increasing by 10 per cent per annum supported by a strong industry of superannuation and investment managers.
Planning for a comfortable retirement is front and centre for most Australians. The growth in Australia’s pool of pension funds has been driven by the government-backed superannuation guarantee, but for many investors, investing outside of super is also a key wealth creation tool. However, retirement is more than wealth creation; spending retirement savings is a major business, with the retirement village industry and the cruising industry, for example, both generating $5 billion in revenues annually.
