Young people leaving care are arguably one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society. Compared to most young people they face numerous barriers to accessing educational, employment and other developmental and transitional opportunities. The Australian and international literature suggests that care leavers experience significant health, social and educational deficits including homelessness, disproportionate involvement...

In economies where labour forces are rapidly ageing, one policy-relevant question regarding technological and organisational innovations has to do with their labour-market consequences: do they affect the structure of employment and, as a consequence, do they hurt the employment prospects of older workers? This study discusses and tests a set of hypotheses concerning the impact...

The way we theorise ageing provides a 'cultural template' which effects both policy and practice and which has consequences for the way people make a social contribution. This paper illustrates the implications of this cultural template by reference to an ongoing empirical study of Grey Nomads and the voluntary contribution they make to isolated rural...

This paper from the 2007 Australian Social Policy Conference explores young people's understandings of the social problems and strengths of their community. The paper discusses girls' (13 to 24 year-olds) accounts of their experiences of growing up in the Glebe public housing estate: the difficulties they face, their critiques and aspirations indicate resilience, their positive...

This short paper from the 2007 Australian Social Policy Conference looks at the extent of the spread of the notion of 'social capital', and investigates a number of the reasons given in the literature for its popularity. It concludes by suggesting that the question of why 'social capital' continues to prevail, despite its dubious epistemological...