Current Research

Professor Hal Kendig

Ageing Baby Boomers in Australia (ABBA): Informing Actions for Better Retirement
Australian Research Council Linkage Project 2008 to 2010 (LP0882748)

Partner Organisations
National Seniors Association (Peter Matwijiw, Director, Productive Ageing Centre, NSA)
AARP (Josh Collett, International Liaison, AARP, USA)

Chief Investigators and Research Staff:
Professor Hal Kendig, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney
Dr Yvonne Wells, Lincoln Centre for Research on Ageing, La Trobe University
Professor Mark Wooden, Institute for Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne
Dr Kate O’Loughlin, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney
Professor David De Vaus, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, La Trobe University

Senior Research Associate: Dr Nancy Humpel, University of Sydney
Research Assistant: Diane Warren, University of Melbourne
PhD Scholars: La Trobe University and University of Sydney - to be appointed.

ABBA Research Aims
Australia is at a critical turning point because the massive baby boom cohort – the 5.5 million people born between 1946 and 1965 – has begun to turn 60 years of age. The ABBA project will generate an innovative and comprehensive body of knowledge that informs constructive action for better retirement.
The aims are:

1. To determine the diverse pathways, timing, and processes of retirement from paid work, and their consequences for adjustment, well being, and unpaid productivity after retirement.
2. To identify key factors in retirement preparedness and its impacts on quality of life outcomes afrter retirement.
3. To identify individuals' expectations for, and experiences of, retirement and the active strategies by which they attempt to achieve their retirement goals.
4. To assess how expectations for retirement are shapped by the economic, social, and policy context in Australia as contrasted with the United States.

Major data resources

• The national, longitudinal Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey from 2001 to 2010.
• A national telephone survey in 2008 on retirement preparedness and experiences.
• Focus groups with people before and after retirement as well as policy makers and industry leaders.
• Comparative survey findings on retirement expectations in Australia and the United States

ABBA outcomes

• Baby boomers will be provided with evidence on ways in which their own actions in late middle age can increase their chances of having satisfying, independent, and healthy lives after retirement.
• Workers, employers and governments will be informed on key factors that enable people to work longer when they choose to do so.
• Public stereotypes will be challenged by findings showing variability among baby boomers.
• Governments and communities will have knowledge on baby boomers’ expectations to guide their responses to societal ageing.
• The findings will reinforce a vision of positive ageing and the opportunities of an ageing Australia

For further information contact Dr Nancy Humpel Ph: +61 2 9351 1411
Email: nhumpel@usyd.edu.au

Professor Hal Kendig

Melbourne Longitudinal Study of Health Ageing (MELSHA) Program

This ongoing study has been funded by a large number of grants and supporting agencies including the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council. It has recently been funded for a further 3 years by the NHMRC.

Chief Investigators and Research Staff:
A large group of investigators have worked on and/or been associated with this project at different times. The study includes collaborators from Sydney, Monash and LaTrobe Universities. The current team includes:
Co-directors: Professor Colette Browning - Monash University.
Professor Hal Kendig; University of Sydney
Project staff: Associate Professor David Grayson - jointly funded by Monash University;
Dr Robert Pedlow (Research Fellow - Ageing and Health).
Dr Kate O’Loughlin, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney

Aims:
The MELSHA study is an ongoing longitudinal study of older people. The study aims to provide a knowledge base for individual and social action which promotes the independence and well-being of older people.

Study population status:
The baseline survey for the MELSHA study consisted of 1000 people aged 65 years and over living in non-institutional settings and was conducted in metropolitan Melbourne in 1994. At the most recent contact with participants in 2005/6 424 actively participated in the study.
For further information contact Dr Robert Pedlow Ph: +61 2 9351 9117
Email: r.pedlow@usyd.edu.au