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This paper draws on primary publications in Austalian gerontology to review knowledge on ageing and support While there is a well-established literature on family care, social networks studies of the 1980s provided more comprehensive views of expressive and instrumental support across a range of relationships. Notwithstanding stereotypes to the contrary, older people contribute as well as receive support. A new generation of qualitive, interpretative shudies are reporting on the meanings and processes of social support as experienced by older people themselves. Policy-related studies examine social support as a cornerstone for community services, and epidemiological investigations examine social influence on health and well-being. The field could be advanced considerably by longiturdinal surveys and qualitative enquiris exploring the diversity of older people in a variety of social settings.

This paper draws on primary publications in Australian gerontology to review Australian knowledge on ageinig and families. Government funding has played a large part in increasing psychological research on caregiver stress and applied studies of the needs and supports of older clients of community services. Priorities for further research are: better appreciating diversity among different social groups, revealing older people's own experiences of families, and developing better theoretical frameworks of how individuals fit within broader social structures. Research can play a major part in confronting public misperceptions of ageing and suggest how practitioners can work most effectively with frail older people according to their particular family situations.

The Aged Persons' Homes Act 1954 initiated the now extensive involvement of the Commonwealth Government in funding housing and residential care for older Australians. This article reviews the House and Senate debates related to this legislation from early 1950 to the present. The aim is to identify recurrent themes and ideology underlying the political debate, and their relationship to actual program developments. An understanding of these ideas and expectations can assist in considering options for policy reform in the future.

Housing inequalities accumulate over the life course and take on their greatest force in old age. Among the 95 per cent of older people who continue to live in the community, there is a polarisation between the majority of outright home owners and the minority of permanent private tenants. This article identifies the effect of housing tenure and related public policies on standards of living in retirement. Most importantly, it, concludes that increases of Supplementary Assistance are an immediate priority. A major restructuring of taxation, pension, and housing policy is recommended to resolve the more fundamental problems.

This paper discusses approaches to survey design applied in a large scale study of the aged in Sydney. The subject matter concerns methods of (i) achieving an adequate coverage of topics and rare sub-populations while minimising the need for prolonged interviews and sample weighting; (ii) locating a widely dispersed target population economically, (iii) maintaining control over respondent selection and (iv) ensuring the attainment of objectives despite cost constraints and uncertainty.