The work undertaken by advocates and other organisations through the Grants Program is having influence, improving outcomes for energy consumers. Great Grants showcase important work that has built new evidence or demonstrated impact.

Exploring the nexus of energy use, ageing, and health and wellbeing among older Australians has been selected as one of our Great Grants.

This project by Macquarie University was aimed at demonstrating the diversity of consumer needs and how energy is integral to health and wellbeing, through research into how older consumers think about and use energy, and how it affects their health and wellbeing.

The project insights were hugely valuable, such as the correlation between higher levels of general health and happiness among older Australians with the positive feelings associated with, for example, being able to use their washing machine. These are the sort of daily life activities that high energy costs constrain. While most people understand the connection between heating and health, this project revealed that the connection between energy use, health and wellbeing is not always as simple as we assume.

We also hosted a webinar on the project which attracted a lot of interest from a very diverse range of stakeholders.

The final report Exploring the nexus of energy use, ageing and health and wellbeing among older Australians can be read here.

Ross Gordon was invited to speak to the project at a meeting of our Board of Directors in August 2020. View the presentation slides here.

Access to the full suite of grant resources can be found here.

We note that Professor Ross Gordon has worked across Macquarie University and Queensland University of Technology whilst working on this area of research.