Emma Larouche
31 July 2024: Intergenerational fairness, climate resilience, and socioeconomic disparities dominated discussions at a national wellbeing forum organised by the University of Canberra together with Deakin University, the Centre for Policy Development, the Australian National Development Index, the Australia Social Value Bank and the Monash Sustainability Development Institute.
‘Building wellbeing into policy and action: Setting Australia’s future wellbeing agenda’ is the second national wellbeing forum to take place. Over 220 attendees participated in person and online over the three-day event, enabling researchers and decision makers across Australia to share experiences, insights and inspiration for future activity.
The recent conference brought together a national network of voices to set the agenda for government and the private and not-for-profit sectors to support the wellbeing of all Australians. Forum sponsors included the University of Canberra being Australian Unity, VicHealth, SEED Lifespan, Deakin University and the Centre for Policy Development.
Former Treasury Secretary to the Howard Government, and current Chair of the Nature Finance Council, Dr Ken Henry delivered the keynote address, calling for more investment into environmental spending.
The WellRes Unit, a research theme within the University’s Health Research Institute (HRI) was also formally launched at the forum. The Unit will focus on research into wellbeing and resilience for all in Australia.
Professor Jacki Schirmer is the Director of the Centre for Environmental Governance, head of the WellRes Unit and Chair of the Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Research Network (CCARRN) , all at the University. She said that a key takeaway from the conference was to identify the practical steps needed to achieve wellbeing wherever Australians live, now and into the future.
“We need to get serious about supporting wellbeing for all – that means looking at how our current policy settings support the wellbeing of some Australians more than others, and who is missing out,” Professor Schirmer said.
“Supporting future wellbeing requires supporting the wellbeing of our unpaid carers, younger Australians, people who have recently arrived to live in Australia.
“It is critical to find pathways to enable people to maintain their wellbeing as they experience more frequent and higher intensity bushfires, floods and droughts, due to the effects of climate change.”
Researchers shared how they are working with local communities to navigate challenges to support wellbeing before, during and after disasters.
The forum also looked at how to elevate wellbeing measures alongside traditional economic metrics to make the shift from a society built around economic growth, to one focused on achieving the highest possible quality of life.
Alongside Professor Schirmer, the University’s Professor Phil Duncan and Dr Mel Mylek delivered presentations and the Early insights for more resilient communities dashboard was launched. The dashboard is a University of Canberra project funded by the NSW Southern Innovation Hub to enable a more rapid identification of changes in resilience, in communities impacted by natural hazards.
