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Behaviour ID surveyed 1,027 Australians on what a fair go means to people and what they do when they disagree. (The Federal Government defines a fair go in four parts — mutual respect, tolerance, compassion for those in need, and equality of opportunity for all — and the study uses that as its reference point.)

Asked to describe a specific time they gave or received a fair go, 48% of people described something matching one of those four principles. Most described equality of opportunity or tolerance. Few described compassion or mutual respect.

Over-65s rated themselves the most able group in the country at handling a disagreement. 92% feel able to end one well and 91% to keep it from getting personal, against 71% and 72% of under-25s.

Over-65s are also the least likely to think a disagreement achieves anything. Only 19% feel able to change another person's mind, against 54% of under-25s, and one in five, asked what would help them manage a disagreement, said avoiding it.

Every subgroup named the same two groups as missing out on a fair go: people with disability (41%) and people on low incomes (32%). People from non-English-speaking backgrounds came third at 28%, older Australians fourth at 26%.

People born overseas answered differently. They were more positive that Australia gives everyone a fair go, at 68% against 57%, and more likely to name refugees and people from non-English-speaking backgrounds as the ones missing out.

PS. Behaviour ID is Mat Crompton and Kris White, who are both speaking on the Ageing Reframed panel on 23 September (see below).

Wednesday 23 September | 10.30–11.30am ACST | Online | Free

Join us for the first Ageing Reframed panel.

Our sector has embraced dignity and person-centred care. It has paid far less attention to identity — the person's sense of who they are — and the part it plays in how people make decisions and adopt behaviours. Whether someone seeks help, stays on a medication, or accepts support at all often turns on whether the step sits with who they take themselves to be.

The panel works through that across three live problems: ageing in place and the family carers who sustain it; delayed help-seeking and medication; and culturally safe everyday care under the new Aged Care Act. With geriatrician Dr Sanka Amadoru, and Behaviour ID's Mat Crompton and Kris White.

The AIHW released Australia's Health 2026 in July. 43% of carers said they felt lonely often or always, against 12% of Australians overall. 61% did not report healthy levels of wellbeing, against 34%. 36% reported high psychological distress, against 16%. Around three million Australians provide informal care, 1.2 million of them as primary carers. (read it here)

Shiro Oguni, a television director, was visiting a group home when he ordered a hamburger and was served gyoza. He said nothing, and then started the Restaurant of Mistaken Orders, a pop-up that ran in Roppongi in 2017 and has run repeatedly since. Every server lives with dementia. Around a third of orders come out wrong, and the organisers say 99% of customers leave happy. They publish contact details for anyone who wants to run one. (their site here)

A Mayo Clinic-led study published in JAMA Network Open in May last year found that living within a mile of a course was associated with 126% higher odds of Parkinson's than living more than six miles away, with the strongest association at one to two miles. Households drawing tap water from a service area containing a golf course had roughly double the odds, and where the groundwater is more easily contaminated, 82% higher again. The authors point to turf pesticides reaching residents through the air and the groundwater. (read it here)

PS: I saw this on Stephen Johnston’s LinkedIn. Stephen has started a newsletter on LinkedIn, HERO Metrics, taking one cost per edition that sits outside the price of a thing and following it through four steps — hidden, externality, revealed, opportunity. Read more, and register here.

Each week, I review developments in ageing and aged care and what they mean in practice. If this was useful, forward it to someone in the sector who'd appreciate it.

George Gouzounis