The Australian Retirement Living Lab is co-funded by industry and the University of the Sunshine Coast. It brings together resident- and industry-focused research to generate meaningful data for evidence-based decision-making across the retirement living sector.
The lab delivers current research and insights on economics, consumer behaviour, service provision, policy, culture, and health and wellbeing. Its mission is to connect industry and research to drive innovation in retirement living now and into the future. Built on five years of research partnerships, national projects, and industry reporting, it links industry, consumers, and researchers to help shape the future of retirement living in Australia.
Our purpose
Retirement living in Australia is shaped by legislation designed to protect residents, but this can limit the research available to support informed decision-making across the sector. The Australian Retirement Living Lab fills that gap by providing independent, secure and anonymous resident-focused research, insights, education and advice.
Through local, state and national research and reporting, we help industry stakeholders access evidence they may not otherwise be able to gather. This work delivers valuable insight into the economic, insurance and health experiences of retirement living residents, supporting better policy, strategy and service design.
Importantly, it gives residents an independent, evidence-based voice to help shape decisions that affect their lives.
Our work
Independent retirement living research in Australia is a key focus of the team’s work, including delivery of the country’s largest qualitative study of residents’ experiences, needs and expectations.
The research highlights a major shift in the sector, with changing resident demographics driving new expectations around quality of life, wellbeing and where people want to live later in life.
Increasingly, residents are choosing to age in place, reshaping traditional retirement living communities into settings that combine independent living with community and in-home care.
Through independent research, analysis and recommendations, the team supports evidence-based decision-making for the sector now and into the future.
Current projects (2026-2028)
- Innovating ageing in place through retirement living communities
- The National Retirement Living Resident Economic Survey
- Longitudinal analysis of historic resident experience survey data
- Ethical modelling of financial products provided to retirement living residents
Services we provide:
- Turnkey development and delivery of education packages for the residents and operators
- Strategic research and reporting services
- National reporting and policy advice
Impact
We have produced projects, reporting and academic publications at a national and international level.
Some of our work includes:
- Creative Conversations: Sunshine Coast Case Study (n=316)(Project) January 2024
- An Australian Lifestyle report: A case study of retirement in Australia’s largest retirement geography, the Sunshine Coast. (Report) May 2024
- Creative Conversations: National resident research project (n=517)(Project) December 2024
- Creative Conversations: A national study of retirement living. (Report) March 2025
- Our Forever Home: a qualitative study of retirement living residents and their changing needs, desires, and expectations towards ageing in place. Forthcoming in the Journal of Applied Gerontology June 2026.
Our advice and reporting impacts over 17,000 older Australian’s living in our partner retirement living communities across the country. We continue to provide high-level evidence-based advice to some of the largest stakeholders in the nation.
Affiliates
- Keyton Retirement Living
- UniSC Healthy Ageing Research
- UniSC Creativity, Regions, Organisations and Work Research
- UniSC School of Business and Creative Industries
- Kara Pisani – Lead Industry Consultant and Founding Member (Keyton)
- Dr Emily Jones – Member and researcher - Head of Business Analytics (Keyton)
Contact
Dr Andy Ward
Assistant Associate Dean, Research | Senior Lecturer, Contemporary Music | School of Business and Creative Industries
Founder, Australian Retirement Living Lab
