Births in Australia are at an historical high – with around 285 000 babies born in 2007. This corresponds to an estimated total fertility rate of 1.93 babies per woman, the highest since the early 1980s. This is not a one-off event as fertility rates have been generally rising for the last 6 years. Overall...

This report makes a number of recommendations which aim to alleviate the current pressures experienced by older Australians on low incomes, including a review of the Age Pension base level and indexation arrangements, a review of financial thresholds to access government services, benefits and concessions, the introduction of measures to improve access to dental care...

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...

Home and Community Care policy is underpinned by an aim of decreasing the vulnerability of people who live in the community, in particular, the vulnerability of 'frail aged' and young people with a disability. However, age-related vulnerability is a slippery concept, its causes and outcomes are not always easy to identify. Frequently the causes are...

This report contains information on the capacity of residential aged care homes, residents and resident characteristics, levels of dependency among residents, and admissions and separations.