Australian Unity

Towards 2050: Social infrastructure for Australia’s future

Society EN ↓ 5 episodes

Australians are changing. By 2042, the number of Australians over 85 will double to over one million. There’ll be greater rates of chronic disease, more people requiring specialist aged care, more people living with disability. By 2041, there’ll also be six million more people living in this country. Our nation will require more hospital beds, childcare centres, disability housing, student accommodation, seniors living and other housing. For the sake of our future community, it’s time for open conversations about what infrastructure we must deliver and who will deliver it. This podcast is a fo...

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Australian Unity

Episodes

Episode Five – Housing Students in a Housing Crisis 12.12.2025 34:12

Australia’s international education sector is our largest service export outside mining, contributing more than $50 billion annually and employing over 200,000 people. Yet housing shortages and affordability pressures are impacting students’ wellbeing and academic success. In this episode, host Ryan Banting explores why Australia lags behind global peers in student accommodation, the r...

Episode Four – Australia’s Aged Care Sector: A Quiet Revolution 26.11.2025 38:44

  Australia’s aged care sector is undergoing a profound transformation—a quiet revolution that will shape how we age and how we care for older Australians. In this episode, Ryan Banting speaks with Ian Yates AM, one of the nation’s most respected advocates for older people, about the challenges and opportunities ahead. Ryan and Ian discuss: Why aged care is more than residen...

Episode Three: Rebuilding the system – Caring for carers 11.09.2025 38:15

Host: Ryan Banting, Executive General Manager, Social Infrastructure, Australian Unity Guests: · Dr David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy and the Social Economy at RMIT · Prue Bowden, Group Executive—Home Health, Australian Unity In this powerful episode, we delve right into the heart of Australia’s care economy—where aged care, disability support, chil...

Episode Two: Home Truths – Specialist Disability Accommodation in Australia 04.09.2025 37:47

Home Truths – Specialist Disability Accommodation in Australia Host: Ryan Banting, Executive General Manager, Social Infrastructure, Australian Unity Guests: Jeremy Hope – CEO, SDA Alliance Hannah Orban – Associate, Grattan Institute Jacob Edwards – Fund Manager, Australian Unity SDA Fund Episode Overview This episode explores the evolution, challenges, and opportunities pr...

Episode One: Setting the scene – A Changing Nation 28.08.2025 28:14

Towards 2050 is a podcast series that explores the critical role of social infrastructure in Australia – as our nation grows in size and everyone’s daily needs rapidly change in line with the ageing of our population. This podcast explores our country’s need to develop new social infrastructure over the next 25 years and will chart a roadmap for delivering it. In the first episod...