Young adults in Australia, and in many other advanced countries, are more likely to be highly educated but less likely to be in full-time employment than their parents were. Although insecure employment has long been a feature of labour markets, increased labour flexibility in recent decades has resulted in insecure employment becoming entrenched. In this article, we draw on data from young people in their early twenties to examine the interrelationships between work and life. Although we focus on the association between precarious employment and sense of personal control, we also examine the interrelationships between sense of personal control, education, relationships and health. Rather than experiencing a short period of insecure employment before transitioning into permanent jobs, young people now experience a 'new adulthood' characterised by extended periods of insecurity, undermining their sense of personal control. Our aim is to identify what it takes to make a secure, healthy and meaningful life.

Her research interests include the life trajectories of young people living in Australia, and the attitudes of young Australians towards ethnic and cultural diversity.

There has been intense debate in Australia regarding how asylum seekers who arrive by boat should be treated. Some call for compassion towards those prepared to risk their lives to seek protection, whereas others believe 'boat people' should not be allowed into the country. This article uses data from a large representative sample of young people in Queensland, Australia, to understand the acceptance of asylum seekers by young people in Australia. The findings suggest that young Australians are more accepting than the Australian adult population. Several social and political background factors were also found to be associated with the belief that 'boat people' should be permitted into Australia. Fewer factors, however, are associated with the trust young Australians have in people from another country. This suggests that while some young Australians may believe boats carrying asylum seekers should not be turned away, fewer might be prepared to enter into trusting relationships with 'boat people' should they resettle in Australia.

Young people making future career choices are doing so in an environment that often highlights the benefits supposedly wrought by individualisation and reflexive choice. It is argued that those who demonstrate reflexivity in their decision-making would have an advantage in the negotiation of future risks. The authors of this article agree with theorists who note that career choices are still strongly influenced by a person's location in the class structure. However, unlike some writers who suggest youth from more privileged socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to evaluate risk and demonstrate reflexivity, the authors suggest the opposite. Interviews were conducted with young people aged 16-17 who are participating in an ongoing project designed to follow a cohort of young Australians from adolescence into later life. Our findings suggest that while a more privileged location may afford young people security from many potential risks and problems, this may in fact encourage a non-reflexive perspective and they may choose careers based on social norms rather than ability. Instead, we argue that it is young people from less privileged backgrounds who tend to demonstrate reflexivity in their career planning.

Over the coming decades, technology and automation are expected to dramatically transform how work will be undertaken. While many of these developments will improve productivity and provide new opportunities, some jobs will likely disappear. In this article, we report data from in‐depth interviews undertaken with 51 young Australians about their strategies for managing the possibility of technological disruption in the workplace. In the face of future uncertainties, we found that the majority of our participants remained confident in their ability to maintain for themselves a ‘good’ career story. We posit, however, that those who could neither avoid nor reduce the possibility that technological advancements might jeopardise their career plans demonstrated an outlook of career malleability whereby they accepted the risk yet remained subjectively confident in their own capacity to rewrite their career narrative if, or when, circumstances demanded.

Young people are remaining in the parental home for longer, and returning there more frequently, before they attain residential independence. In Australia, these patterns have prompted concerns about the emergence of a 'boomerang generation' whose housing aspirations and decisions have either been directly questioned, or viewed as symptomatic of broader affordability issues. Employing a longitudinal perspective, we argue that early residential pathways reflect a mix of stable and dynamic influences involving individuals, their families, and their broader relationships. Using data from a large cohort (n=2,082) of young Australians participating in the 'Our Lives' research project, we examine housing pathway formation between the ages of 12/13 and 21/22. Events such as parental dissolution or partnership formation were found to encourage home leaving, whilst being employed at a younger age and having grown up in a rural area predicted both leaving and remaining out of home. There were also signs that close, supportive relationships with family members and friends served to 'anchor' respondents at home for longer, and that parental socioeconomic resources enabled respondents to leave home and return if needed. Overall, our findings suggest that early residential independence reflects various factors, not all of which are in young people's control, and some of which bring the longer-term sustainability of their living arrangements into question.

In many industrialized countries, the transition into adulthood has become prolonged and complex. The consequence is that the process of identity formation within various life domains is often being delayed. This study applies a qualitative longitudinal research strategy to track the experiences of 28 young Australians as they undergo the process of identity development within the domain of romantic relationship formation. We explore their experiences and the strategies they have employed to negotiate any challenges faced. This study makes two significant contributions to current literature. First, it provides qualitative insight into some challenges contemporary young Australians are facing with respect to identity formation in this life area, and how they are responding to those challenges. Second, it suggests how theoretical understandings of the processes of identity formation, both in this domain and others, might be expanded in order to acknowledge instances when young people might choose to enter an identity development hiatus.

A citizen’s understanding about their nation’s system of politics and government is crucial for how they engage with and participate in the political system. This chapter discusses the political, institutional, and pedagogical changes to teaching young people about Australian politics over the last thirty years, examining how successive Australian national governments have sought to enhance students’ political knowledge and how the constitutional limitations of the federal system have impacted their approaches. It also explores how political factors have impacted government actions on civics and citizenship education as well as the pedagogical debates which have shaped the curriculum. The chapter concludes by assessing the efficacy of these reforms and what steps can be taken to strengthen teaching and learning approaches in the future.