Australian Survey of Retirement Attitudes and Motivations

The project

This is the official website of the 'Australian Survey of Retirement Attitudes and Motivations' (ASRAM). The project is funded by an Australian Research Council Grant(Discovery Grant No. DP0557922) for 2005-2007 and has been undertaken by three researchers at the University of Tasmania: Professor Natalie Jackson (Social Demographer, now at the University of Waikato, NZ), Dr Maggie Walter (Sociologist), and Professor Bruce Felmingham (Economist). The aim of the research is to determine if Australia's Baby Boomers (born 1946-65) are likely to heed government calls for them to remain in the workforce for longer. The study will inform and contribute to the integration of retirement policy reform across all tiers of Australian Government (Federal, State and Local). The project received ethics approval from the Tasmania Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee (Ethics Ref No: H8763).

Project time-line

The ASRAM survey was run between May and November 2006. 2,501 respondents, then aged 40-59 years, were interviewed (400 in each state). Data analysis is largely complete and a number of reports are in various stages of preparation (two presently in press). Four bulletin-style thematic reports are now available on the publications page; several more are also in progress and will be uploaded as they are completed. Interested parties are welcome to contact the researchers and have their email address added to a 'report advice' list.

The research team wishes to thank all participants. Your time was greatly appreciated, and we hope you enjoy reading the project's findings: thankyou.

Queries and Contacts

Please contact us if you have any queries:
Associate Professor Natalie Jackson (Natalie.Jackson@utas.edu.au, or 03 6226 2943);
Dr Maggie Walter (Margaret.Walter@utas.edu.au) (especially for enquiries related to the survey design and analysis); and
Professor Bruce Felmingham(Bruce.Felmingham@utas.edu.au)