Deakin University undertook the Parliamentary Careers Project on behalf of the VPFMA to examine the career trajectories and professional challenges faced by members of parliament before, during and after their time in parliament, and investigated and recommends tools for parliaments to better support their current and former members.

Attached is Deakin’s press release outlining their findings.

Former MPs speak of unemployment, grief, and challenges post-politics | Deakin

In addition, Deakin notes the following

“The professional, financial and mental health impacts of being a member of parliament, and becoming an ex-parliamentarian, create potential disincentives for people to seek parliamentary office and to leave office voluntarily at the appropriate time. This is detrimental for representative democracy, which is dependent on a broad cross-section of society being elected to parliament and on a reasonable degree of turnover of elected members.”