Scientia Professor John Piggott AO, CEPAR Director, UNSW Sydney
One of the perennials in CEPAR’s events calendar is the annual Colloquium on Pensions and Retirement Research which has been held last week over two days at UNSW Sydney with an online session on Day 3. In fact, this annual event has now been running for more than 30 years, initiated by David Knox (now at Mercer) and for the last quarter century has been hosted by UNSW Sydney and CEPAR’s Co-Deputy Director Hazel Bateman and teams.
The Colloquium has gone from strength to strength, and now attracts submissions – more than we can accept – from all over the world. This year more than 100 delegates from academia, industry, and government participated in the three-day event.
Especially topical was an industry and policy panel which focused on what an effective retirement income strategy looks like. The session was chaired by Hazel, and high-profile panellists included Jeremy Cooper (Chair of Advisory Board, Conexus Institute); Jacki Ellis (Head of Retirement Segment, Aware Super); Lynn Kelly (First Assistant Secretary, Retirement, Advice and Investment Division, The Treasury); and Brnic Van Wyk (Head of Asset Liability Management, Australian Retirement Trust).
2024 will be the final year for CEPAR as an Australian Research Council (ARC)-funded entity, and we already have a range of events planned. These include, among others:
-
a Curtin University based Conference on Work Design on 13-14 February in Perth,
-
a Data Workshop at the ANU in Canberra on 22 February,
-
a Policy Dialogue on Migration in May,
-
the International Pension Research Association (IPRA) Conference at the OECD in France in June,
-
and a CEPAR Showcase and Celebration on 29 August in Sydney.
CEPAR could not keep doing this without the dedicated and excellent support of our professional and academic staff, and I would like to acknowledge their critical contribution.
But time now for a break. Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a peaceful and joyous holiday season, and a terrific new year.