Family futures: Issues in research and policy - keynote addresses from the Institute's major research conference

Featuring latest Institute research - Families, divorce and family law

This edition of Family Matters focuses on the theme of ‘Families, welfare and social policy’. It is a very timely edition, coming at the commencement of a period of major review of the social welfare system in Australia

The major theme of this edition of Family Matters is strengthening and supporting families. As researchers and policy makers, we have access to a lot of information about families in crisis and the various policy interventions and programs that can be implemented to address family problems.

In this issue of Family Matters, Australian Institute of Family Studies researchers and experts in the area of ageing have contributed articles from their differing perspectives on ageing and the role of families and government. An overview of the articles is provided by Ilene Wolcott on page three of this issue.

We are pleased to publish in this issue of Family Matters the Keynote address delivered at the opening session of the conference by Dr Richard Eckersley, ‘Redefining Progress: Shaping the Future to Human Needs’, and several papers presented during the course of the conference.