Seminars in Ageing: Enhancing wellbeing in later life: Insights into the lives of mature and older Australians

Professor Mira Miranti

About the Presenter:

Riyana (Mira) Miranti is a Professor at the University of Canberra and a visiting academic at NARI. As a socio-economist and development economist, she has a strong research interest in social well-being and equity. She particularly focuses on issues of disadvantage and well-being, including poverty, social exclusion, and inequality affecting children, youth, older people, and other population groups. Mira has two specialisations: Australia and Indonesia. She is a Program Director of the Master of Public Policy at the University of Canberra and a Convenor of the Indonesia Program in her faculty. 

Mira has led many research projects in the areas of wellbeing, including for older adults. She led the development of a conceptual framework to understand the wellbeing of older adults, taking into account location and mobility. This work has been extended to estimate the prevalence of social exclusion of older adults in Australia and the development of ‘Small area Indicators of Wellbeing for Older Australians (IWOA)’. Mira was also the Chief Investigator for the ARC Linkage project ‘Understanding and preventing workforce vulnerabilities in mid-life and beyond’ and the co-author of an AMP.NATSEM Income and Wealth Report entitled ‘Going the distance: working longer, living healthier’ examines the relationship between health and working in later life. 
She holds a PhD in Economics from the ANU, a Master of Social Science (Economics) from the National University of Singapore and a Bachelor of Economics (Accounting) from the University of Indonesia. 

About the Seminar:

This presentation will explore three key topics related to the life experiences of mature-aged and older Australians as they navigate pathways to improved wellbeing.

1. Contemporary Participation Landscape: We will examine how mature and older Australians are faring in terms of their contributions and vulnerabilities associated with both paid and unpaid community participation
2. Mental Health and Participation Vulnerability: The discussion will focus on the implications of mature-aged workers' vulnerabilities on mental health, emphasising the need for flexible working environments and greater worker autonomy.
3. Spatial Measures of Wellbeing: Finally, we will introduce a spatial measure of wellbeing, highlighting the importance of geographic distribution. Understanding where older Australians live is essential for identifying areas of high and low wellbeing, which can guide policy development and enhance service provision.