Program

Welcome to Country

Welcome Address
Professor Serge da Motta Veiga, Dean & Sidney Myer Chair of Commerce, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Melbourne

Opening Remarks

Keynote Address

Longitudinal evidence on housing as a social determinant of health
Rebecca Bentley, University of Melbourne

Drawing on longitudinal research, including extensive analysis of the HILDA dataset, this presentation demonstrates that housing affordability, stability, and quality significantly protect mental and physical health. The presentation makes an economic case that investing in healthy housing through rental standards, affordability support, and improved conditions would generate substantial health gains and cost savings.

Session 1A
Life Satisfaction Dynamics

Session 1B
Fertility and Family

Do mental health declines contribute to falling fertility motivations - a cohort analysis from Australia - Natalie Nitsche, Australian National University

Working from home and fertility intentions: Evidence from Australia - Pelin Akyol, e61 Institute

The impact of paid parental leave on intra-household bargaining dynamics in Australia - Md Rabiul Karim, Macquarie University

Session 1C
Natural Disasters and Insurance

Residential responses to natural disasters: The mediating role of residential insurance - Ha Nguyen, The Kids Research Institute Australia

Non-insurance in Australia and the effect of natural hazard risk - Michael McLean, Finity Consulting / University of Newcastle

Disaster exposure and household financial disruption - Sundar Ponnusamy, Deakin University

Session 2A
Disability

Disability, labour productivity and lifetime earnings- New evidence from Australia - Man Hin (Iris) Cho, Australian National University

Does disability reshape who we are? Personality change following permanent disability onset - Michael Palmer, University of Western Australia

Disability employment and working from home in Australia - Aaron Mollross, Australian National University

Session 2B
Divorce, Drugs, and Problem Gambling

Compatibility in personalities and non-cognitive skills and relationship dissolution in Australia - Xiadong Gong, University of Canberra

Beyond parental absence: Parental divorce, bereavement, and illicit drug use in Australia - Derek Tong, Melbourne Institute

From participation to problem gambling: Does financial literacy prevent harmful escalation? - Vandana Arya, Adelaide University

Session 2C
Financial Hardship and Poverty Dynamics

Monetary and multidimensional poverty in Australia: Overlap, persistence and prediction - Melek Cigdem-Bayram, Melbourne Institute

The dynamics of household financial hardship - entry, duration, path and exit - Mei Qiu, Massey University

Early access to retirement savings and financial distress evidence from Australia’s COVID-19 policy - Shah Alam, Monash University

Session 3A
Wellbeing Dynamics

Fatherhood, wellbeing, and social isolation: Longitudinal evidence around the birth of a first child - Jan Kabátek, Melbourne Institute

Delving into the eye of the cyclone to quantify the causal impacts of natural disasters on life satisfaction - Francis Mitrou, The Kids Research Institute Australia

Life course events and decisions under duress: Disruptive events and their impact on migration, neighbourhood choices, and wellbeing - William Clark, University of California, Los Angeles

Session 3B
Immigrants

Health assimilation of Australian immigrants - Rennie Lee, University of Queensland

Cultural uncertainty avoidance and homeownership: Evidence from immigrants in Australia - Lai Hoang, University of Western Australia

Intergenerational educational attainment and wage outcomes among migrants and Australian-born individuals - Lenah Ankliss, University of Melbourne

Session 3C
Labour Market Issues

The effect of acquiring disability on employment outcomes in Australia - Mingji Liu, Economics Researcher

The Trade Off Between Union Wage Gains and Working Time Flexibility - Yuqi Huang, University of Auckland

Labour mobility of award-reliant employees - Jamie van Netten and Justin Strong, Fair Work Commission

Session 4A
Housing, Working from Home, and Health

Housing tenure as a structural determinant of sleep quality in Australia - Kate Mason, University of Melbourne

Does work from home contribute to increased BMI and obesity? Evidence from Australian data - Anastasia Semykina, RMIT University

Associations between the extent of working from home and health risk behaviours among Australian workers - Lisa Becker, Deakin University

Session 4B
Child Care and Aged Care

How successful are childcare subsidy reforms in promoting childcare usage and maternal employment in Australia? - Lina Doan, Aalto Pty Ltd

Who cares? Trends in the division of care among separated parents - Sandra Buchler, University of Queensland

Who cares when governments spend more? Regional aged care funding and informal care provision - Anam Bilgrami, Macquarie University

Session 4C
Digital Technology and Education

Mapping generative AI exposure across Australia's ageing and gender-segregated workforce - Suneha Seetahul, University of Sydney

Digital exclusion in Australia: Evidence from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey - Ewa Orzechowska-Fischer, Department of Infrastructure

Alignment of the low-SES equity target to higher education access an assessment - Michael Dockery, Curtin University

Session 5A
Loneliness

Social health dynamics around the onset of long-term health conditions - Fikru Rizal, Monash University

Have Australians become more lonely and socially isolated? A longitudinal analysis of the HILDA study - Neta Hagani, University of Sydney

Volunteering and trajectory of loneliness among older adults in Australia - Ha-Linh Quach, University of Sydney

Session 5B
Data Collection and Data Quality

I think my father was a project manager: Reliability and validity of parental occupation and schooling measurement in the HILDA survey - Ann Evans, Australian National University

Cross-sectional Representativeness in Longitudinal Surveys: Income Distribution Trends in HILDA - Maximillian Longmuir, UNSW Sydney

HILDA immigrant top-up sample - Nicole Watson, Melbourne Institute

Session 5C
Work Arrangements

Do weekend workers like their jobs? - Harshita Bhatia, Melbourne Institute

A healthy work–life balance is linked to good mental health: Longitudinal evidence from Australian workers - Md Mahmudul Hasan Sagar, University of Queensland

Working from home and working time (mis)match - Inga Lass, Melbourne Institute

Session 6A
Mental Health

Neighbourhood characteristics and mental health among Australian adults - Syed Afroz Keramat, University of Melbourne

Debts in the shadows: Informal borrowing and mental health in Australia - Chi Minh Ho, University of Western Australia

The long shadow of distress: Scarring effects of mental health episodes on Australian labour market trajectories, 2001–2023 - Md Ehsanul Haque Tamal, Murdoch University

Session 6B
Panel Session: Measuring Gender Attitudes

Beyond the traditional-egalitarian continuum: Rethinking gender attitudes as multidimensional - Natalie Nitsche, Australian National University

The times, they are a-changin’ — but are gender roles? Two decades of Australian attitudes towards work, care and responsibility - Brendan Churchill, University of Melbourne

From survey items to attitudinal profiles: Analytical choices in analysing multidimensional gender attitudes - Christina Bornatici, University of Queensland

Session 6C
Inequality

Measurement error and the dynamics of consumption inequality - Josh Clyne, e61 Institute

Measuring the changing size of intergenerational transfers in the Australian tax and transfer system - Robert Breunig, Australian National University

Income class dynamics and inequality of opportunity: A full distributional approach - Alessio Rebechi, University of Tasmania

Keynote Address

Some economics of self-control
Deborah Cobb-Clark AO FASSA, University of Sydney

This presentation explores the conceptual foundations of self-control in both psychology and economics, focusing on public policy insights and the new opportunities for quantifying and analysing self-control in the Australian context.