A case study focused on CEPAR’s pioneering work in the economics of population ageing research contributed to UNSW’s recent outstanding results in the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) 2018 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) analysis.
In the ARC’s first national engagement and impact (EI) assessment of university research, UNSW Sydney topped all Australian universities for research that makes a highly positive impact on everyday lives and also rated highly on engaging with end-users outside of academia to translate research into benefits for society. The national assessment is incorporated into the ERA and shows how universities are translating their research into economic, social and environmental impacts, as well as industry and end-user engagement.
The case study explored how CEPAR has actively engaged with government, business and community groups to translate its research findings to impact policy in the domains of aged care, retirement income, labour force participation and related consumer choices. The case study highlighted a number of CEPAR activities which have made an impact including submissions to the Financial System Inquiry; work on means-testing public pensions which attracted the attention of the US Social Security Administration; its role in the establishment of the International Network of Pension, Ageing and Retirement Researchers; and leadership in promoting public discourse on ageing related matters citing the 2012 Aged Care Policy Dialogue as an example.
View the full engagement and impact assessment on the ARC website, and UNSW’s results on the UNSW Newsroom.