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Background and Purpose

The idea for this book came about when my wife Ruth and I were backpacking as a young couple and were the recipients of several acts of kindness from strangers. It was Ruth who came up with the book concept, as we sat talking in a pine forest on Kangaroo Island, reflecting on the generosity of so many fellow Aussies who are readily prepared to help strangers as we had just experienced.

I spend much of my professional life researching people – whether by facilitating focus groups or conducting national surveys, and what I consistently find is that most people embody the Australian stereotype of lending a hand - whether it be to a mate or a stranger.

The perception of worsening violence and less kindness is largely based on crime coverage in daily media reports, and is refuted by solid research. The reality is that nationally, and for the majority of Australians personally, we experience far more acts of good than ill - indeed, as shown later in the book, by a factor of 38 to 1.

This book is a small testament to the power of good in our society. These seventy true stories of kindness from strangers are just a sample of the millions of such stories that could fill volumes like this.

Many of our contributors, though not all, are prominent Australians. Their stories are further recognition that individual achievement rarely occurs without a helping hand from others. After all, we call this the lucky country - we don’t take the credit for it all ourselves. We value independence in a community-minded way. We hope you find this book further evidence of the power and life of the community spirit that shines so strongly in the Australian psyche. In these times of great change and incredible diversity we all know that when adversity strikes, whether in the form of bushfires, floods or international conflict, there’ll be a fellow Aussie there to help out. It’s the tradition of the digger, the character of mateship, and the enduring power of good.

This book was written and compiled by Mark McCrindle with Emily Wolfinger of McCrindle Research.

Mark McCrindle is a social researcher with an international reputation for tracking the emerging trends and analysing the diverse generations. He is the Director of not-for-profit organisation, the Australian Leadership Foundation, as well as McCrindle Research whose clients include over 100 multinational organisations. His highly valued research and reports have developed his renown as a futurist, demographer and social commentator.

Emily Wolfinger is a published writer and has freelanced for a variety of publications. As a freelancer, Emily enjoyed writing about some of the big issues of our times. At McCrindle Research Emily translates social and generational research into publishable form both for internal and external clients.

Mark and Emily are the authors of the generational tome, The ABC of XYZ: Understanding the Global Generations (UNSW Press – www.theABCofXYZ.com).

McCrindle Research

McCrindle Research exists to conduct world-class research and to communicate its insights in innovative ways.

You will find out more about our research agency at: www.mccrindle.com.au

Supporting Charity You have already done good just by holding this book in your hand! One dollar from every book published goes to the work of the Australian charity, Hope Street (www.hopestreet.org.au), who look after some of our cities’ most marginalised people. Daily the team at Hope Street dedicate themselves to supporting and empowering those in need, and in doing so they show the power of good.