Bruce Bradbury examines indexation and demand adjustment for Commonwealth funding to the States/Territories via the Commonwealth State Disability Agreement (CSDA), which covers funding of accommodation and support services for people with a disability. The report examines the adjustments in funding that would be required to take account of both changes in the cost of services...

In The Recruitment of Older Workers: A Survey of a High Growth Industry Michael Bittman, Mardi Flick and James Rice from the Social Policy Research Centre present the results of a survey on employer attitudes and practices towards the recruitment of older workers in the business services sector. To better grasp the likely policy implications...

Robert Putnam's influential book about 'social capital', Bowling Alone, uses volunteering as an index of civic participation and argues that the imminent decline of volunteering signals a potential crisis for democracy. Volunteering: The Human Face of Democracy by Jennifer Wilkinson and Michael Bittman challenges the assumptions underpinning Putnam's ideas.

This report presents analysis of Department of Family and Community Services' (FaCS) 'Workforce Circumstances and Retirement Attitudes of Older Australians' survey. It was prepared to assist FaCS' assessment of policy options to encourage employment and self-sufficiency among people aged 50 or over. The analysis focuses on identifying four groups of individuals: those older than official...

This report has been prepared for the Department of Family and Community Services to provide background analysis for the assessment of policy options to encourage employment and self-sufficiency among the older workforce (those aged 50 to retirement age). The main focus is on labour supply issues - with a particular focus on the household situation...