A new interdisciplinary research centre for the study of ageing and retirement has been established in the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales. The Centre, RCAR, provides the opportunity for a number of senior academics across several disciplines who have been working on issues of ageing and retirement to come together to examine the interrelatedness of so many of the issues concerning ageing and retirement.
RCAR brings together economists, urban planners, demographers and geographers, medical scientists and community medicine experts, social policy analysts, sociologists, educationalists and performing arts academics in a unique collaborative undertaking situated within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

"This will facilitate a entirely new approach to the study of ageing and retirement which will allow us to bring a truly holistic and multidisciplinary perspective to our major academic research studies", said the inaugural Director of the Centre Dr Diana Olsberg.

"When we are talking about human experiences, social, financial and personal transitions, health and lifestyle changes over the life course these are not separated by strict boundaries any more than moving from one chronological age group to another is necessarily a predictor about people’s individual attitudes and capabilities", Dr Olsberg said. "Taking a multidisciplinary perspective on major projects will allow us to examine the possibilities and opportunities of people’s diverse experiences of ageing and retirement, and the most effective options for responses from government and public sector institutions and organisations, private corporations and individual Australians."