No / Australian sociology has wrestled with most of the big issues facing this society; however, when it comes to one of the most significant changes to face Australia in the next 30 years, it has suddenly lost its capacity to engage with the nexus between demography, social processes and political structures. While governments have forged ahead with responsibilization agendas in health, welfare and unemployment, sociology has voiced its concern about the implications for Australia¿s most disadvantaged. Yet, when it comes to population ageing, sociology has been, in large part, silent in the face of neoliberal policies of positive ageing, which have framed the `problem¿ as a deficit that must be managed primarily by individuals and their families. This article maps the field of positive ageing, identifies key social concerns with this policy approach and asks, where is Australian sociology?

As a means to engage with others, television offers the viewer a great deal. In Australia commercial TV is particularly popular, and many turn daily to this cultural arena which graphically portrays our shared concerns and values. Viewers are kept informed and entertained, advertisements display the luxuries and necessities that direct lifestyle choices,and local and global stories are presented for mutual consideration. Audiences are connected not only with products,personalities and newsmakers, but also with fellow viewers who are sharing the experience. Retired people take particular advantage of this multi-faceted link with the outside world, when additional leisure time and reduced social and physical mobility create spaces that can be filled with the narratives and 'para-social' connections of a medium that transports the world to the viewer. Yet one definitive statement that can be made about popular television is that older people are rarely acknowledged and often ridiculed. An easily accessible and valuable communications medium marginalises those most dependent upon it - for information and entertainment, but also, I would argue, dependent upon it to help facilitate key recommendations of the 'successful ageing' formula. Authoritative prescriptions for ageing well emphasise the benefits of social engagement, with television helping to facilitate this by involving the viewer with local concerns and wider accounts of human enterprise. Yet the popular media often presume that older people are no longer viable consumers or citizens, thus alienating them from mediated stories and populations. 'Success', according to commercial media sensibilities, is equated with youthfulness and economic means - twin attributes rarely associated with retired people. As a result, advertising is directed primarily at young, middle-class audiences, and the TV programmes to hook their attention are often typecast with similarly youthful protagonists. Older viewers are taken for granted and rarely acknowledged, and more disconcertingly, stereotyped and ridiculed to empower younger viewers. This dissertation seeks to explore these issues from a sociological perspective, primarily within the Australian context. Research strategies include a detailed analysis of the role of television in older people's lives and how they are portrayed, with results aligned with 'successful ageing' guidelines. Included in this approach is a study of how older people are portrayed on commercial TV in Australia, and a discussion of findings. The final section includes a chapter which consists of an examination of negative media portrayals from a political and human rights perspective, and the final chapter which asks how the oldest and frailest may by impacted by the cultural devaluation of old age.

The global phenomenon of population ageing has major ramifications for societies and governments around the world. In New Zealand, efforts to address the impacts of population ageing have centred on the Government’s Positive Ageing Strategy. This is a thesis about positive ageing as viewed through Maori eyes. It has been informed by the memories and aspirations of older Maori who have lived through challenging times but have emerged with qualities that enable them to enjoy older age and to contribute to their own whanau, Te Ao Maori (the Maori world) and Te Ao Whanui (wider society). The thesis is philosophically located at the interface between Western science and matauranga Maori, an Indigenous inquiry paradigm. It is argued that Western science and matauranga Maori are relevant to research in the contemporary context, and reflect the realities of older Maori who live in both Te Ao Maori and Te Ao Whanui. The study used research techniques that draw on Western science (literature review), matauranga Maori (review of 42 Maori proverbs) and both inquiry paradigms simultaneously (qualitative study with 20 older Maori people). The research found that Maori positive ageing can be characterised by a two dimensional concept that incorporates a process dimension and an outcome dimension. The process dimension is consistent with a lifecourse perspective and therefore recognises that ageing is a life-long process where circumstances encountered during life may impact cumulatively and manifest in old age. The outcome dimension can be described in terms of complementary ‘universal’ and Maori specific outcome domains. The universal outcome domains are encapsulated in the New Zealand Positive Ageing Strategy and more recently are expressed in the Positive Ageing Indicators 2007 Report. The Maori-specific outcome domains identified in this Study are: kaitiakitanga – stewardship; whanaungatanga – connectedness; taketuku – transmission; takoha – contribution; takatu – adaptability; and, tino rangatiratanga – selfdetermination. The overarching outcome domain is taupaenui – realised potential.

The global phenomenon of population ageing has major ramifications for societies and governments around the world. In New Zealand, efforts to address the impacts of population ageing have centred on the Government’s Positive Ageing Strategy. This is a thesis about positive ageing as viewed through Maori eyes. It has been informed by the memories and aspirations of older Maori who have lived through challenging times but have emerged with qualities that enable them to enjoy older age and to contribute to their own whanau, Te Ao Maori (the Maori world) and Te Ao Whanui (wider society). The thesis is philosophically located at the interface between Western science and matauranga Maori, an Indigenous inquiry paradigm. It is argued that Western science and matauranga Maori are relevant to research in the contemporary context, and reflect the realities of older Maori who live in both Te Ao Maori and Te Ao Whanui. The study used research techniques that draw on Western science (literature review), matauranga Maori (review of 42 Maori proverbs) and both inquiry paradigms simultaneously (qualitative study with 20 older Maori people). The research found that Maori positive ageing can be characterised by a two dimensional concept that incorporates a process dimension and an outcome dimension. The process dimension is consistent with a lifecourse perspective and therefore recognises that ageing is a life-long process where circumstances encountered during life may impact cumulatively and manifest in old age. The outcome dimension can be described in terms of complementary ‘universal’ and Maori specific outcome domains. The universal outcome domains are encapsulated in the New Zealand Positive Ageing Strategy and more recently are expressed in the Positive Ageing Indicators 2007 Report. The Maori-specific outcome domains identified in this Study are: kaitiakitanga – stewardship; whanaungatanga – connectedness; taketuku – transmission; takoha – contribution; takatu – adaptability; and, tino rangatiratanga – selfdetermination. The overarching outcome domain is taupaenui – realised potential.

The global phenomenon of population ageing has major ramifications for societies and governments around the world. In New Zealand, efforts to address the impacts of population ageing have centred on the Government’s Positive Ageing Strategy. This is a thesis about positive ageing as viewed through Maori eyes. It has been informed by the memories and aspirations of older Maori who have lived through challenging times but have emerged with qualities that enable them to enjoy older age and to contribute to their own whanau, Te Ao Maori (the Maori world) and Te Ao Whanui (wider society). The thesis is philosophically located at the interface between Western science and matauranga Maori, an Indigenous inquiry paradigm. It is argued that Western science and matauranga Maori are relevant to research in the contemporary context, and reflect the realities of older Maori who live in both Te Ao Maori and Te Ao Whanui. The study used research techniques that draw on Western science (literature review), matauranga Maori (review of 42 Maori proverbs) and both inquiry paradigms simultaneously (qualitative study with 20 older Maori people). The research found that Maori positive ageing can be characterised by a two dimensional concept that incorporates a process dimension and an outcome dimension. The process dimension is consistent with a lifecourse perspective and therefore recognises that ageing is a life-long process where circumstances encountered during life may impact cumulatively and manifest in old age. The outcome dimension can be described in terms of complementary ‘universal’ and Maori specific outcome domains. The universal outcome domains are encapsulated in the New Zealand Positive Ageing Strategy and more recently are expressed in the Positive Ageing Indicators 2007 Report. The Maori-specific outcome domains identified in this Study are: kaitiakitanga – stewardship; whanaungatanga – connectedness; taketuku – transmission; takoha – contribution; takatu – adaptability; and, tino rangatiratanga – selfdetermination. The overarching outcome domain is taupaenui – realised potential.