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This article focuses on the Australian Institute on Family Studies' Housing Across the Life Course project. This paper set out to illustrate how the key concepts of a risk society might become manifest in contemporary Australian housing careers. This led to a consideration of whether entry to home purchase shows signs of increased differentiation and disconnectedness. Analysis reveals no evidence of increased differentiation; on the contrary, the age-related norm of entry to home ownership appears to be strengthening. That is, entry to home ownership by later cohorts is increasingly likely to have been attained within a narrower span of years than earlier cohorts. The data suggest that if individuals have not entered home ownership by their early thirties, they are increasingly unlikely to do so. With regard to disconnectedness, analysis found that entry to home ownership is becoming increasingly disconnected from other life course events. The paper has provided brief illustrations of the manifestation of risk society concepts and what they might mean for our understanding of family life.

The article presents information on trends in family studies in Australia. It monitors trends in the literature, both published works and unpublished papers such as conference and research papers and other non-commercial literature from universities and non-government agencies. The database also makes possible the identification of organisations and individuals working in particular subject areas. The database is divided into 70 broad subject categories. This structure makes it possible to analyse the amount and type of literature indexed in each category and to make observations about the attention or concern different social issues receive in a given time period. The majority of categories are surprisingly stable, mostly recording a slight increase each year, or occasionally a small decrease, in numbers of documents indexed. This year, 25 categories recorded more than 50 new documents; 13 with between 50 and 99 documents; nine with between 100 and 199 documents; and three categories with more than 200 documents.

The article discusses several developments concerning the Australian Institute of Family Studies. The institute invites registrations from people wishing to attend the sixth Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference, to be held at the Carlton Crest Hotel in Melbourne from November 25-27,1998. The conference will provide a valuable forum for those interested or involved in family research, the development of family policy, or providing services to families in Australia. The conference will focus on family issues in Australia and feature the presentation and discussion of findings of the Institute's own studies, along with work from other researchers, government bodies, service providers and community organizations. It reports that over 150 presentations will be made during the course of the conference. The conference will include keynote addresses, papers, symposia, display and discussion poster presentations, and workshops. All have been grouped into the following broad themes. The article also presents information on family values and family relations, effects of divorce on family members, demographic change, life courses and family futures, and others.