This updated edition printed in June 1993. Includes index. This study of Australian society, examines the changing values, beliefs and perceptions of Australians, and how these are changing Australia.

Based on qualitative research conducted by the Mackay research organization, the book draws on hundreds of interviews with people drawn from every segment of Australian society.

Monumental changes in the Australian way of life are making the present into one of the most challenging periods in our history.

Such issues as the "new woman", a record divorce rate, multiculturalism, the highest level of unemployment in sixty years, the onrush of technology, the rise of the swinging voter, a rapidly shrinking middle class all contribute. Because we are all living through an Age of redefinition, many of us are from anxiety, stress and insecurity that are the inevitable consequences of having to adjust to such radical social, cultural and economical upheaval. How will we cope?