Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Tuesday 07 April
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
When you think ‘question time’, perhaps you picture rowdy politicians cussing each other out. But in this ongoing series, we’re putting the dignity back into proceedings … along with a generous amount of time. It’s one full hour of pure Q&A between you, our audience, moderator Madeleine Morris, and a panel of experts in the evening’s chosen field of inquiry.
This special edition of Question time will focus on ageing.
It’s so often noted that it’s become a cliché, but it’s also a fact: the most populous generation of all time – the baby boomers – are hitting the pension years. Advances in medical technologies continue to maintain our bodies longer and ultimately extend lifespans … but they also cost money. Retirement ages are creeping upwards, not always by choice, as households calculate what they can afford. And in our increasingly contract-based employment landscape, other older workers find themselves permanently out of work before they’re ready. We may need to re-evaluate what ‘ageing’ means and at what stage we officially recognise it.
What’s ahead for our ageing population – in terms of both social infrastructure and the way individuals choose to live their lives? How does ageing differ between cultural backgrounds, according to family values and attitudes to care? And how do we honour wisdom and experience, while offering (or planning for) support?
Join Susan Ryan, John Daley, Patricia Edgar and Michele Gierck as they explore these issues affecting all of us, old and young, while we decide what our society will look like in the 21st century.
Featuring
Madeleine Morris
Madeleine Morris is a Melbourne-based reporter for ABC television’s 7.30. She was formerly a presenter for the BBC in London and reported from dozens of countries before returning to her native Australia. She is the author of Guilt-Free Bottle-Feeding: Why Your Formula-Fed Baby Can Grow Up To Be Happy, Healthy and Smart, published by Finch.
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.
Michele Gierck
Michele Gierck is a writer, an inspiring speaker and an educator. Michele’s latest book, Fraying: Mum, Memory Loss, the Medical Maze and Me, published in February 2015, chronicles a mother’s and daughter’s journey through memory loss and the medical maze.
Her other books include 700 Days in El Salvador and The Man Who Threatened Rome (co-authored with Martin Flanagan).
Her work has featured in the Age, Eureka Street and many other publications. Passion, justice, community and human spirit are central to her writing, her public speaking and her life.
John Daley
John Daley is the inaugural chief executive of Grattan Institute, which provides independent, rigorous and practical solutions to Australia’s most pressing public policy issues. The current programs of Grattan Institute focus on productivity growth, cities, school education, tertiary education, energy and health.
John’s work at Grattan Institute has focused on economic and budgetary reform. He is particularly interested in government prioritisation. His other interests include analysing the situations in which government intervention is justified, and the limits to government.
He has 25 years’ experience spanning policy, academic, government and corporate roles. He has worked for the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, McKinsey and Co, and ANZ where he was managing director of the online stockbroker, E*TRADE Australia.
Susan Ryan
Susan Ryan was appointed as Australia’s first Age Discrimination Commissioner on 30 July 2011 for a five year term. In 2014, she was appointed Disability Discrimination Commissioner — in addition to her responsibilities as Age Discrimination Commissioner. She commenced her new appointment on 12 July 2014.
Up until her appointment as Commissioner, Susan was the Independent Chair of the IAG and NRMA Superannuation Plan; pro chancellor and Council member at UNSW from 1999 to 2011; chaired the Australian Human Rights Group since 2008, and was Women’s Ambassador for ActionAid Australia.
She was CEO of ASFA, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia from 1993–1998. She continued her involvement in superannuation as President of AIST, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees from 2000 to 2007. She was a founding member of ACSI and of the ASX Corporate Governance Council.
From 1975 to 1988, Susan was Senator for the ACT, becoming the first woman to hold a Cabinet post in a federal Labor Government. She served in senior portfolios in the Hawke Government as Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Status of Women and Special Minister of State.
As Education Minister, Susan saw school retention rates double and universities and TAFEs grow significantly. She pioneered extensive anti-discrimination and equal opportunity legislation, including the landmark Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Affirmative Action Act 1986.
She was awarded an AO for services to the Australian parliament in 1990.