Age discrimination among older workers: The Australian experience

In 2004 the Australian government introduced The Age Discrimination Act; however age discrimination in the workplace remains a problem in Australia. In 2010 complaints to the Fair Work Ombudsmen increased dramatically.  The Australian government is encouraging mature age workers to remain in the workforce and has introduced policies to support this, including superannuation tax incentives and extending pension age eligibility to 67 years.  However, even if older workers are willing to work longer, their opportunities may be limited if employers are unwilling to hire or retain them. Data drawn from the Ageing Baby Boomers in Australia (ABBA) project’s 2009 national survey (N=1009) of older workers aged 50-64 years found that 32% of workers experienced age discrimination. Results indicate that 17% of older workers reported age discrimination in the workplace and 25% reported discrimination when applying for a job. Logistic Regression analysis of older workers found that those who reported being treated less favourably both in the workplace and when applying for a job were more likely to be single females, those employed in private sector jobs, those who reported high job stress, felt dissatisfied with their current job, and/or thought that their job may be eliminated in the next year.  This research highlights that although polices (mainly fiscal) have been implemented to encourage older works to remain longer in work they do not address other barriers such as employer attitudes to employing and retaining older workers.