Care Economy Research Institute (CERI)

The care economy consists of services that provide care to people of all ages and abilities, including:

• aged care
• disability services
• family services
• alcohol and other drugs
• social housing
• mental health services and childcare.

With over 1.8 million people (mostly women) working in health care and social assistance jobs, it is also our fastest growing industry as measured by jobs growth. These areas are in crisis and have been the subject of multiple Royal Commissions and Government inquiries; recurring themes are chronic care workforce shortages, low consumer confidence, poor uptake of digital technologies and major inefficiencies in the administration of care delivery.

The vision of the Care Economy Research Institute is to improve people’s health and wellbeing and drive Australia’s economic growth. Our mission is to provide an ecosystem and platform for researchers, consumers, policymakers and industry partners to co-design and implement the next generation of services across the care economy. We will develop a suite of bespoke care models, that will result in longer and happier lives for our population, and will generate significant budgetary savings along the way.

For more information, please contact our Institute Director, Professor Irene Blackberry.