Australian findings - Building tomorrow’s advantage

Family businesses are uniting around a clear, well-defined purpose. We’ve long understood that company purpose can be a source of competitive advantage. When purpose guides strategy, governance and investment decisions, it helps protect and grow wealth. It provides a framework for decision-making and prevents strategic drift that can erode capital over time. 

This year’s survey results show how strongly that belief runs in Australia. 

Australia leads on purpose: a strong platform for future growth

Australian family businesses continue to anchor themselves in purpose—83% say they have a clear company purpose, a figure broadly consistent with our findings in 2023. 

What’s distinctive in Australia is how that purpose shows up in the business—80% say their purpose is directly tied to the way they deliver their products and services, a far stronger alignment than global at 60%. 

This could reflect the relative youth and nimbleness of Australian family businesses—many are only one or two generations in, rather than the four, five, six-generation businesses common globally. They can adapt and align on purpose more easily.

It could also suggest that purpose isn’t a ‘loose’ or symbolic statement for Australian family businesses. They embed purpose directly into how they operate. It guides how they grow, how they make decisions, and how they show up for customers.  

The global survey finds a clear correlation between purpose and enablers of performance. Family businesses that say they have a clear purpose are twice as likely to pursue aggressive growth, significantly more likely to prioritise innovation and long-term goals, and foster a culture of experimentation and innovation.

Purpose can be central to achieving future growth ambitions.

Make purpose visible. Australian family businesses live their purpose well—now it’s about articulating it clearly. Too often it isn’t formally written down or regularly communicated. Codify it. Share it with employees, embed it in the value proposition and communicate it with confidence so customers and partners understand what the business stands for—and why it matters.

Agility is seen as a strength for Australian family businesses—and it’s where many believe they’re responding best in today’s tougher environment. 

Australian agility perceived to be high

A significant 70% of respondents place their business in the top two levels of agility when responding to changes over the past year—more than global. Notably, 30% describe themselves as very agile. This was most apparent in making operational adjustments, decision-making speed, and adoption of technology. 

That said, this reflects how businesses perceive their agility, rather than an objective measure of performance. One explanation for this confidence may lie in the relative youth of family businesses here. They tend to run leaner, with fewer layers between decision and action. With fewer decision makers and less hierarchy, changes can feel faster and more decisive.

Where agility is less visible is in partnerships and collaborations. Only 19% see this as an area where agility shows up, far below the global 45%. This may reflect a preference for self-reliance, but it could also be a blind spot—particularly as collaboration increasingly shapes how businesses scale, innovate and respond to change.  

Financial constraints and risk appetite biggest blockers to change, but fewer internal roadblocks than global peers

When asked about what prevents them from adapting to change, only one factor stands out as higher in Australia than globally: financial constraints or risk aversion. Almost half (47%) say this holds them back, compared with 33% globally. This likely reflects Australia’s more constrained capital environment, as well as its strong regulatory and compliance frameworks that support stability but can also limit flexibility and speed when adapting to change.

External economic or market uncertainty is also a top challenge, though less so in Australia than globally. This aligns with our 29th Global CEO Survey, where local leaders believe they are better insulated from the converging megatrends worrying global CEOs. That confidence has been shaped by years of relatively favourable conditions. However, the landscape is shifting. Australia is a smaller market at a time when artificial intelligence is accelerating global competition. At the same time, heightened geopolitical uncertainty over the past 12 months suggests Australian family businesses may be more exposed than they have been in the past.

As for every other factor, Australia experiences fewer roadblocks to change than their global peers. Again, this likely reflects the advantages of a smaller, more agile business environment—a structural strength that reduces the internal friction that often slows larger, more complex global family businesses.

Lean into partnerships and collaborations, locally and globally. Reach out, form alliances and tap into broader ecosystems to amplify agility and unlock new growth pathways. AI collaboration, in particular, is a path to early-mover advantage and market share.

As the reins of family businesses pass into the hands of a new generation, success will ultimately come down to a question of capability. And our findings show that capability is being shaped by three forces: the structure they will lead, the skills they need, and the technology they must harness. 

Skills gaps, delayed leadership transitions, concentrated decision-making and uneven tech adoption are converging to redefine what effective succession needs to look like in Australia. And with more than 1.4 million owners (employing upwards of 7.9 million people) and contributing almost $500 billion in GDP set to retire in the next decade, it’s essential to get this right. 

First, let’s look at the top perceived barriers businesses see for the next generation—and then how businesses are timing succession. 

Top hurdles for next gen: skills and modern business know-how, and resistance from founder(s)

Australian family businesses say the biggest challenge in preparing the next generation is building capability—specifically the specialised skills and modern business education future leaders need (73% vs 56% globally). The next barrier is resistance from the senior generation to transition leadership, cited by 37% of respondents (29% globally).

This reinforces what we see on the ground: many Australian family businesses—especially younger, fast-growing ones—haven’t built formal skills development pathways for emerging leaders. Without that structure, capability gaps show up earlier and more sharply, leading to a heavier reliance on external talent.

Might it also be possible that first generation leaders underestimate the capability of the younger generation?

The relative youth of Australian family businesses could explain the higher inter-generational resistance figure in Australia. It suggests founders or other senior family members in Australia remain more directly involved in business operations, which may not be the case in more established global family businesses.

What about their timeline for succession?

Succession timelines in Australia are slipping and less defined

A sizable portion (37%) are holding to their leadership transition plan, but a third have no plan at all—a pattern we continue to see across the sector. 

Nearly a quarter (23%) are delaying timelines amid uncertainty—a sign of caution and lack of formal transition pathways.

It may also reflect the earlier uncertainty about whether there’s someone with the right skills ready to take over.

In our experience, delaying transition can increase the risk of a leadership vacuum, strategic drift, and unfortunately, family conflict. Not having a transition plan at all and relying on informal transfer practices may no longer be sufficient—the stakes (market volatility, regulatory change, generational attitudes) are higher. 

Build skill capability from the ground up. Create structured development pathways for the next generation that give them the skills and confidence to lead in a modern business environment. Meanwhile, make succession a continuous, transparent process. Open dialogue early, define roles and expectations, and put a clear plan in place to guide the transition when the moment comes.

The composition of a family business board influences the perspectives available to guide the next generation when succession comes. So, how do boards stack up? 

Family business boards remain narrow in gender, age, and industry experience

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Boardrooms remain narrow in their makeup. Women are missing from 37% of boards, and another 33% have only one woman. On average, women hold 25% of board seats.

Eight in ten boards have no one under the age of 40. Half are made up solely of family members. And more than half (53%) have no directors with experience outside the industry they work in. Except for gender (up by 3%), these figures have slipped backwards since our last survey in 2023.

When we asked about the level of fragmentation across ownership, decision-making and operations, most survey respondents (63%) pointed to a highly centralised model. They told us that control typically rests with a small group or even a single leader.

In our experience, this reflects where many Australian family businesses sit in their lifecycle. Younger and less mature businesses tend to draw directors from existing networks—people they know and trust—rather than widening the lens to new perspectives. Board composition often mirrors history, not the future. We also see a shift once businesses move into second-generation leadership or establish a family office, where the appetite for external advisers— especially investment expertise—becomes stronger. 

The risk is clear: limited diversity narrows thinking and slows capability building at a time when businesses need broader insight. The opportunity is just as clear. Leaders can open the boardroom to a wider set of skills, experiences, and voices—bringing in more women, younger perspectives, industry-adjacent expertise, trusted advisers with a strategic mindset or those who fill identified skills gaps. It’s a small shift that can deliver outsized impact, helping boards stay relevant and future-ready. Doing so also brings the board closer to the customers and communities they represent.

Strengthen structure and governance by broadening who’s at the table. Bring in diverse perspectives—across gender, age and industry—to improve decision-making and support future leadership.

Family offices

Just over half (53%) now have a family office, and most of those (63%) operate as single-family offices. It reflects a growing trend for establishing family offices in Australia—and, for many, a possible preference for privacy and clear separation between family wealth and the operating business.

This shift is happening against a backdrop of heightened deal activity, with our Global Family Office Deals study 2025 recording an increase in M&A from US$0.6bn in 2023 to US$2.4bn in 2024/25.

Even more reason to make sure the Family Office is set up for success now, and for the next generation.

Australian family businesses are taking a disciplined, self-funded approach to innovation. The vast majority (93%) reinvest profits to drive their innovation agenda—that includes technology— with far fewer turning to external capital, joint ventures, or government support. 

It’s a sign of control and caution, but also a sign that many are innovating within the boundaries of their existing balance sheet.

So, how much of a priority is technology?

Family businesses want growth, but are cautious about the technology that could accelerate it

Businesses continue to prioritise core business expansion and diversification—yet technology isn’t playing the enabling role to the extent it could. Only 30% list digital transformation and AI as a top priority, despite expansion now relying heavily on stronger systems, automation, and data-led decision-making. Or, at its most transformational, leading to new business models and revenue streams. 

This measured approach shows up in how businesses adopt emerging technologies too. One in five say they are early adopters, but the majority (57%) invest selectively in proven solutions.

It reflects what we see on the ground: interest is there, but implementation is lagging, and businesses are more focused on digitising, rather than transformative innovation.

Evidence from across the broader CEO community shows why this matters. In our 29th Global CEO Survey, leaders in organisations with strong AI foundations—infrastructure and practices—report 2.6 times greater revenue increases and 2.5 times greater cost reductions than those without those foundations in place. When the right building blocks for AI adoption are established—governance, culture, data, skills and operating models—AI moves from experimentation to a genuine source of value. 

Interestingly, 70% of our survey respondents point to innovation and technology adoption as the business priority that best aligns with the next generation—succession is behind at 53%. While that sounds encouraging, our experience shows a clear gap between recognising technological potential and investing in the training and integration needed to realise it. 

And the 53% succession figure underscores a tension between perceived alignment and actual preparedness, given more than a third have no plan in place. Succession planning is one of the most challenging—but critical—areas of intergenerational dialogue. And in a decade defined by global shocks and ecosystem realignment, getting it right has never been more important. 

Move from interest in technology to integration. Pair digital ambition with investment in training, clear policies and the systems needed to turn technology into real business value. Without that foundation, particularly with AI, teams will create their own unguided approaches—and the risks grow quickly.