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Older generation may be richer than before but can they convert wealth into well-being?

If you believe what you see in advertising, you would think all older people are doddery, deaf and daggy but there is little truth in this – most older people are far from that stereotype with a huge portion active and engaged in life.

Yet despite holding a significant share of the nation's wealth many older Australians will not find ageing easy or comfortable.

This interplay between older people’s wealth and health will be the focus of the second instalment of ACU’s Aquero Lecture Series, Converting wealth into well-being, on Thursday 8 September.

Gerontology expert Laurie Buys, ACU’s first Professor of Healthy Ageing, will lead an online panel of experts including chair of Luminesce Alliance Kathryn Greiner, AO; founder of The NeuroTech Institute Dr Fiona Kerr and corporate and commercial lawyer Greg Vickery, AO for the lecture.

Professor Buys is passionate about challenging traditional assumptions associated with age and maximising meaningful engagement, participation, and well-being throughout our entire lives.

“Ageing begins when we are born and is a lifelong journey,” Professor Buys said. 

“Healthy ageing focuses on empowering people to experience meaning, purpose and belonging. We need to connect generations and support everyone over their lifetimes and all their transitions.”

Professor Buys, whose recent research focused on longevity and ways to deliver better social and economic outcomes for older people, said expectations of older age have changed to now challenge traditional transitions and assumptions.

Some of the questions the panel will discuss include:

• What does choice mean?
• How important is age diversity in workplaces and communities?
• How can we work more years with more flexibility?

The Aquero Lecture Series, an initiative of ACU’s Faculty of Health Sciences, which links ACU’s mission, vision and values to the faculty’s patron saint, Saint Bernadette, is designed for health carers and leaders. Aquero means ‘the one of whom I speak’ in Saint Bernadette’s language of Occitan.

It was the brainchild of Associate Professor Cathy Dickson, head of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine (NSW/ACT) who wanted to provide thought leadership in global health for the new post-COVID order, in line with Catholic values.

The Aquero Lecture Series will be livestreamed on Thursday 8 September 2022 at 11.30am AEST. Registration is essential.

Media Contact: Elisabeth Tarica, Australian Catholic University on 0418 756 941 or elisabeth.tarica@acu.edu.au