Life Matters

About Us

Life Matters is a unique daily interview program about social change and day-to-day life. Richard Aedy talks with the main people behind our social policies—from workplace reform to education, health, family relationships, and social change. Specialist producers monitor developments in these fields to bring you the most up-to-date information, as well as personal stories which will move and inspire you.

Life Matters' perspective is from the ground up. It's practical and down to earth, and offers regular opportunities for listeners to contribute their opinions and ideas on the big social debates.

Richard Aedy

Richard Aedy grew up in Sydney and Canberra but has spent most of his adult life overseas. He has been a journalist since 1988, when he completed his studies for a Diploma in Journalism at the Auckland Technical Institute in New Zealand. Despite more than 17 years in journalism, Richard still finds himself interested in 'almost everything'.

He began his career across the Tasman with Independent Radio News and later Radio New Zealand before moving to the UK. He spent five years in London—most of that time with the BBC—where he was an award-winning program maker. Richard joined Radio National in 1998, firstly as executive producer of radio science before returning to broadcasting.

Richard's appetite for a broad range of issues is reflected by his on-air career with ABC Radio National: in 2001 he presented the technology show, The Buzz, before becoming host of the Media Report in 2005. Towards the end of that year he stood in as presenter of Life Matters after Julie McCrossin left the program. In between all that, he was invited to spend three months at Oxford University in 2004 as the ABC's Reuters Foundation Programme Fellow—he wrote a paper on Preventing State Failure in Papua New Guinea.

Richard has a large family, including four sisters, nine nieces and nephews, a formidable mother and a wife who is brighter than he is. He also has two young children who routinely outwit him. With only one television in the house, Richard does not get to watch nearly enough sport.

Regular Contributors

Elly Varrenti has worked across the arts and media industry for nearly twenty-five years. Originally she trained as an actress and singer in the 1980s and went on to perform extensively with many of Melbourne's major and independent theatre companies and for television and radio. In the 1990s she moved into arts broadcasting and theatre reviewing and has continued to work as a freelance broadcaster for both local ABC 774 Melbourne and Radio National.

As a freelance writer Elly contributes to The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Meanjin, and parenting magazines. She was also the theatre reviewer for The Melbourne Times from 2007 - 2009.

She has a B.A. and Grad Dip of Education in English and Drama from the University of Melbourne and has taught across a variety of educational environments since the mid '80s, from the primary sector through to tertiary. Elly also has a Graduate Diploma in Acting from the National Theatre Drama School in Melbourne.