Understanding Modern Australia

Behind every number in this report is a person, a family, and aspirations and fears for the future.

As the nation’s largest life insurer, TAL protects 5 million Australians, from their first job through to retirement, giving us a unique vantage point on how people are really living.

We see it in the conversations our people have with customers and advisers every day, and in the moments when certainty matters most.

But those conversations only tell us so much—to genuinely support modern Australians, we need to understand them before life's turning points arrive, not just after.

TAL partnered with McCrindle to create the Modern Australia Confidence Index (MACI), a new, evidence-based benchmark of how Australians think, feel and act across the areas of life that matter most to their sense of security and wellbeing.

By pairing aspiration with action, the Index surfaces the 'say-do' gap—the space between what Australians value and how consistently they act on it—with real implications for anyone trying to support them.

For TAL, understanding this shift will help us shape how we design our products and services, support our advisers and partners, and show up for the communities we serve.

Fiona Macgregor Group CEO and Managing Director, TAL

Australians are traversing a genuinely uncertain period of human history. Cost-of-living pressure, shifting work patterns, an ageing population and rapid AI adoption are reshaping how people plan for their future and think about what financial security really means.

This report draws on a nationally representative survey of over 2,000 Australians aged 18 to 80, complemented by qualitative insight from four generational focus groups and interviews with 9 financial advisers. Together, these capture the perspectives of both everyday Australians navigating these pressures and the professionals supporting them.

The findings suggest the challenge for modern Australians is not simply one of preparation. Australians are engaged, informed and actively seeking to improve their financial knowledge.Many are already using tools and technology to manage their money. Yet many still struggle to feel secure or make the progress they want. The real challenge is navigation in an era of information overwhelm: knowing who and what to trust, making confident decisions, and turning information into meaningful action.

This report is for anyone with a stake in the financial and emotional security of Australians, including insurers, advisers, policymakers and employers.

We hope it equips you, as it does us, to build more relevant, responsive support for Australians now and into the future.

Mark McCrindle Founder and Principal, McCrindle