National affairs
3 June 2025
Growing wealth inequality is setting Australia up for conflict, but solutions aren’t out of reach
Books & arts
26 May 2025
French sociologist Didier Eribon goes in search of his working-class mother
Books & arts
30 October 2023
A sociologist offers a more sophisticated take on generational differences, but problems remain
National affairs
4 September 2023
Fears about the impact of increasing longevity haven’t aged well
Essays & reportage
16 August 2023
A string of scandals and cost-blowouts in social services look a lot like symptoms of a deeper problem
Essays & reportage
22 June 2023
Why money won’t fix Australia’s broken social services model
National affairs
14 October 2022
A grown-up conversation about how we fund better services is long overdue
From the archive
8 October 2021
Buurtzorg provides more humane care for elderly people at a lower cost. So what’s stopping it from being adopted in Australia?
Books & arts
3 June 2021
Three films tackle dementia is very different ways
National affairs
1 June 2021
Fears about a declining birthrate reflect a twentieth-century view of how the economy works
National affairs
5 February 2021
The superannuation guarantee shouldn’t rise until the system is made fairer
Essays & reportage
14 September 2020
Decades of misguided policy sowed the seeds of a human rights disaster
National affairs
11 September 2020
How one economist came to have doubts about the plan to lift the compulsory superannuation contribution rate
National affairs
7 August 2020
Australia’s aged care homes were a disaster waiting to happen
Essays & reportage
5 May 2020
Why do we keeping rediscovering, then forgetting, the diabolical state of aged care?
National affairs
10 February 2020
Which generation has the biggest stake in the absurdities of the generation game?
National affairs
16 December 2019
Generational divides don’t explain much, though attitudes to climate and culture seem to be exceptions
Books & arts
4 December 2019
Music | Late-career singers can do what young singers can’t
Essays & reportage
22 October 2019
Can a successful social investment model be used in aged care and elsewhere?
Books & arts
24 September 2019
Books | Ageing can be a better experience, but we might need to face a few unpleasant facts
National affairs
14 September 2018
The short answer is yes, but the long answer is more complicated
Books & arts
22 May 2018
Books | Does the wellness movement ignore important truths (and take up too much of our time)?
National affairs
29 April 2018
Increasing the Superannuation Guarantee will help the rich at the expense of the poor
National affairs
27 November 2017
The growing dominance of private providers has led to lower standards of care. But will baby boomers put up with it?
Books & arts
25 November 2017
A new book takes a nuanced look at ageing gay men and the world they live in
Books & arts
23 March 2017
Books | Middle age is expanding, which is mostly good news
National affairs
25 October 2016
Changes to migration rules over the past two decades have made it progressively harder to bring ageing parents to Australia. But does a new policy – promised in the heat of…
National affairs
4 October 2016
Mistaken fears about an “ageing population” have stopped us from considering how best to respond to the prospect of longer, healthier lives
Essays & reportage
17 June 2016
Ageing needs to be treated as a state of living rather than failing, argues Melanie Joosten in this extract from her new book
National affairs
26 November 2015
Senior federal government ministers say that welfare spending is growing too quickly. Peter Whiteford sifts the figures and comes to a different conclusion