Dominant and competing framings of the productive ageing agenda in the Australian policy context

Abstract

Productive ageing policy and programs emerged in Australia in the early 1990s, influenced both by international debate and proactive federal government leadership particularly in the area of economic and health planning for an ageing population. These economic and health frames have remained the dominant discourses surrounding productive ageing initiatives, driven both by the need to maintain growth and productivity in an ageing society and to restrain burgeoning health costs through more active preventative strategies. Social framings of productive ageing, from both the left and the right, have also been evident around ideas of mutual obligation, the building of social capital, and more recently, with a new government, around the concept of social inclusion. This paper explores the development of productive ageing policy and programs in Australia across the areas of employment/retirement, volunteering/civic engagement, care-giving, and lifelong learning. Program developments in each of these areas are briefly explored.