An alarming number of women over 50 in Australia today are doing it tough. A lady I encountered in the Sydney CBD served as a stark reminder… Thin as a rake; shaking from the cold wind; tattered clothes and shoes; bright, piercing blue eyes and hands outstretched. I...
“Discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes.”
Marcel Proust
French Novelist & Author
Housing
Beyond the Great Australian Dream
For decades, Australians have held home ownership to be the mark of status and success in life. However, this ignores the more basic and fundamental role of owning our own home, including physical shelter; physical and psychological wellbeing; and a source of wealth...
It’s not a house. It’s a home.
Our homes have deep meaning in our lives. We not only have physical dependence on them to meet our basic needs; we’re emotionally attached to them - no matter where they are or what they look like. The classic line, "It's not a house; it's a home." was made famous by...
Are smart homes the key to healthy ageing?
It’s time we scrapped the idea of smart homes as the province of the young and digitally savvy. Research shows that smart homes could be the cornerstone of healthy ageing. In fact, smart technologies enable older Australians to live longer, safely, and independently...
5 steps to housing innovation for the over 50’s
I want to stay at home. Forever. In fact, research by Catherine Rickwood reveals that people are more afraid of going to a nursing home or a retirement village than dying. So what can architects, property developers, and the construction industry do to reimagine and...
Housing: On the edge of disruption?
It’s a well-known fact that Australia’s population is ageing. We’re living longer and healthier than at any other time in history. And increasingly, we’re choosing to stay in our own homes as we age. So what does this mean for architects, builders, town planners, and...
Intergenerational understanding
It's well known that baby boomers often feel invisible. Often ignored by marketers, Baby Boomers can also struggle to get jobs as employers consider them "too old". The perception tends to be that turning 50 is the start of a slippery slide downhill towards physical...
5 things more scary than dying
It’s reasonably well-known that many people fear public speaking more than they fear dying. However, as we age, a number of other fears enter our consciousness beyond the sense of foreboding, dread, or denial that can occur as we age. A bonus of ageing is that we...
Retirement: Recreation or Re-creation?
Around 500,000 Australians will retire this year. What are you looking forward to in retirement? Maybe some travel? Catching up on reading all those books you always planned to get through? More time on the golf course? With lifespans longer than at any other time in...