Dr. Donald E. Edgar (born 1936) was the Foundation Director of the

Australian Institute of Family Studies The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) is an Australian Government statutory agency in the Department of Social Services. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its role is to conduct research and communicate findings that affe ...

. Under his leadership the Institute had a profound influence on the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federalism, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster system, Westminster-sty ...

regarding

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

policy, family and work,

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

policy and

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriage, ...

. He continues to contribute to Australian thinking in these areas through his own consulting practise and as an occasional columnist and commentator in the Australian media, particularly

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

and

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

Career

Edgar had been Professor in Sociology and Education at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, Reader (

Assistant Professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...

) in Sociology at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

and Adjunct Professor with

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

's Centre for Workplace Culture Change. He has been a member of the Victorian Children's Council since 1996, and is an Ambassador for NARI, the National Ageing Research Institute. His topics of interest include: *Australian national identity in a globalised world *Business partnerships and community networks *Children, schools and the knowledge economy *Men as fathers and managing work-family responsibilities *The changing nature of community, family and work *Ageing and ageing policy Edgar was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) in the

2010 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2010 Birthday Honours for the Commonwealth realms were announced to celebrate the Queen's Birthday on 7 June 2010 in New Zealand, on 12 June 2010 in the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Sain ...

Publications

* ''Art for the Country: The story of Victoria's regional art galleries'', Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2019 *''PEAK: Reinventing middle age'', co-authored with Patricia Edgar, Text Publishing, 2017 *''The New Child: In search of smarter grown-ups'', co-authored with Patricia Edgar, Wilkinson Publishing, 2008 *''War over work: the future of work and family'', 2005, Melbourne University Press *''The Patchwork Country: Rethinking Government, Rebuilding Community'', Harper Collins, 2001 *''Promoting the positive: family-community resourcing as a model for family services'', 1999 *''Men, Mateship, Marriage'', 1997, Harper Collins *''Ageing, everybody's future'', 1991 *''Seen but not heard: eye-opening insights into the lives of young'', 1989 *''Australian families and their children: a new and challenging audience'', c1985 *''Possible directions for an Australian family policy'', 1980 *''Introduction to Australian society: a sociological perspective'', 1980, Prentice-Hall *''Possible directions for an Australian family policy'', 1980 *''Defining rural schools disadvantage 2: collected papers on rural education'', 1979 *''Social class differences and the structure of education'', 1976 *''Schools Commission and rural disadvantage'', 1975 *''Preparing teachers for change'', 1975 *''Adolescent competence and sexual disadvantage'', 1974 *''Competence for girls?'', 1972 *''Examination marks: their use and interpretation'', 1964, Hall's *''School organization and colleague relationship'', nd Australia and Her Northern Neighbours, Hall's, 1962

Jointly

*''The New Child: In search of smarter grownups, 2008, with Patricia Edgar, Wilkinson Publishing'' *' PEAK: Reinventing middle age', with Patricia Edgar, Text Publishing, 2017 *''Today's child care, tomorrow's children!'', with Gay Ochiltree, c1995, AIFS *''Songs of innocence: a child's view of family life: a discussion paper and study guide'', with Annemaree O'Brien, c1994, ACTF *''Family-friendly front: a review of Australian and international work and family research'', with Kate Spearritt, 1994 *''Families in the 1990s: a challenge for future policy approaches'' (background paper prepared by Don Edgar and staff of the Australian Institute of Family Studies for the Social Policy Directorate), 1993 *''Introduction to Australian society'', with Leon Earle, Rodney Fopp, c1993, Prentice-Hall *''Family change and early childhood development'', with Gay Ochiltree, 1983, AIFS *''Children's participation in divorce'', with Margaret Harrison, c1983, AIFS *''One-parent families and educational disadvantage'', with Freya Headlam, c1982, AIFS *''Family change and early childhood development'', with Gay Ochiltree, 1982, AIFS *''Changing face of childhood'', with Gay Ochiltree, c1981, AIFS *''Family and the pre-school child'', with Gay Ochiltree, 1980, AIFS *''First year out teaching'' with Patricia Edgar and Dave McRae, 1973 *'The New Child: In search of smarter grown-ups', with Patricia Edgar, Wilkinson 2008

Editor

*''Competent teacher'', edited by Donald E. Edgar, 1974, Angus & Robertson *''Social change in Australia: readings in sociology'', ed Don Edgar, 1974, Cheshire *''Sociology of Australian education: a book of readings'', editor, 1975, McGraw Hill

References

External links

Don Edgar website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar, Don Australian consultants 1936 births Living people RMIT University faculty Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia