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The article focuses on the ninth conference of the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC). The conference began with a warm and touching welcome of the attendees by Ali Golding, an Indigenous Australian from Sydney, New South Wales, and an adopted elder of the Eora people of Sydney. The atmosphere of harmony generated by this welcome provided a challenging context for the delivery of papers that together highlighted a diverse range of problematic social issues. This year also marks the beginning of close collaboration between the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the Social Policy Research Centre in the evaluation of the Australian Government's innovative "Stronger Families and Communities Strategy." This important and intensive evaluation is being led by the SPRC, with the Institute as its partner. The nature of the strategy and ways in which it will be evaluated formed the basis of papers at the SPRC. As this work progresses, it will no doubt produce informative papers linking research, policy and practice.

The article presents the author's views on the journal and a conference of the Australian Institute of Family Research. This edition of the journal "Family Matters" presents the keynote addresses and a selection of other key papers from the Institute's very successful Seventh National Conference, held in Sydney from 24-26 July 2000. The Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Jocelyn Newman, opened the conference, the theme of which was Family futures: Issues in research and policy. Some 363 people attended and there were 121 presentations, including 15 by staff of the Institute. The conference represents an important opportunity to present the Institute's research to a broad audience, particularly as it is one of the few conferences in Australia that brings together researchers, academics, practitioners, policy advisers and government public servants to talk about research and policy issues in the family area. The conference is also an important means by which the Institute fulfils its role of encouraging and coordinating research on factors affecting family stability and wellbeing. It provides an opportunity for key stake-holders in the development and implementation of family policy in Australia to meet and discuss current research and policy directions.

The article presents the text of an address by Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Guy Debelle to the 50th Anniversary Conference of the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne in Victoria on December 6, 2012. Debelle recognizes the role of the institute in the economic research and policy advice. He explores the institute's contributions to three areas: business cycle analysis; modeling and forecasting; and surveys.