Life Course Centre
The Melbourne Institute is proud to host the Melbourne node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (Life Course Centre), a national research centre investigating how deep and persistent disadvantage endures within families and across generations.
Our Melbourne node includes 43 researchers across The University of Melbourne, including 15 from the Melbourne Institute, who offer a diverse range of disciplines and a commitment to overcoming the challenges of disadvantage, to improve life course opportunities and outcomes for all Australian children and families.
The University of Melbourne is one of four participating universities in Australia including The University of Queensland, The University of Sydney and the University of Western Australia who are working collaboratively in pursuit of the Centre’s aims.
Meet our Chief Investigators
Professor Guyonne Kalb
LCC Node Director and Program Director at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
Professor A. Abigail Payne
Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
Professor Mark Stevenson
Epidemiologist and Professor of Urban Transport and Public Health at the University of Melbourne.
Research focus of the Melbourne Node
Wellbeing and the labour force
Investigating economic impacts of labour force participation, including joblessness and its intergenerational transmission.
Financial wellbeing
Exploring financial outcomes across various life stages, as well as the relationship between spatial variation and financial stress.
Education and disadvantage
Linking educational opportunities and wellbeing, as well as exploring early employment opportunities and work-based training.
Intergenerational disadvantage
Investigating families and communities experiencing poverty and transmission across generations.
Gender and disadvantage
Investigating gender gaps at school, factors that protect women from poverty, and gender inequality.
Indigenous wellbeing
Exploring water and Country, the impacts on wellbeing over the life course, and causes and current-day legacy of historical frontier violence.
Read our research in the Life Course Centre Working Paper Series, and the Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series.
Learn more about the ARC Centre for Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course by visiting their website.