Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Monday 26 June
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
What expectations should older Australians hold for their own lives? And what structures will recognise and support them in achieving those?
If you’re lucky enough to live in one of Australia’s urban centres, chances are that medical science has extended your life – by some measures, an extra 25 years over the last century. But in those same cities, have attitudes toward ageing kept up?
With Peak: Reinventing Middle Age, co-authors Don Edgar and Patricia Edgar have focussed on new ways our society can rethink the ageing of its population. Drawing on a unique combination of statistics, personal stories and scholarly research, the book looks particularly at Australians aged between 50 and 75 – what the authors argue is our ‘peak’ age – in terms of work, relationships, education, money, health and lifestyle.
With host Melanie Joosten, they’ll discuss what they’ve learned about ageing today, and how they believe readers, governments and the community could make a meaningful shift.
Featuring
Patricia Edgar
Patricia Edgar is a sociologist, educator, film and television producer, writer, researcher, and policy analyst. Through a career spanning four decades she has been at the forefront of media for children nationally and internationally, winning multiple awards for her achievements and programs. She is the author of In Praise of Ageing.
Don Edgar
Don Edgar is one of Australia’s best-known authorities on social trends as they affect families, communities and the workplace. He was the Foundation Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, which became one of Australia’s pre-eminent research institutes in family law, social security, work-family programs, youth and family support services, child protection, child poverty, child care, ageing and the work/family balance.
Melanie Joosten
Melanie Joosten is a social worker and researcher, and the author of A Long Time Coming: Essays on Old Age. She works as a policy officer at the elder abuse service Seniors Rights Victoria. She is the author of the novels Gravity Well and Berlin Syndrome, and has been named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist.