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The following opinion pieces have been published by the President and Commissioners. Reproduction of the opinion pieces must include reference to where the opinion piece was originally published.
Discrimination occurs against older workers
Author: Elizabeth Broderick
Publication: The Newcastle Herald, 5 February 2010
As someone fast approaching 50 years of age and in the latter part of my working life, there is one thing that takes on immense importance for me, as it does for many people. And that is choice. But too often, choice is something that mature age workers find they are lacking, often for reasons that are unfair and out of their control.
A great many people look forward to retirement, plan for it and rejoice in its prospects once it comes their way. For them, retirement is the reward at the end of their working lives – a time when they get to do the things that the daily grind of paid work has prevented them from doing.
At the same time, there are other people who, for reasons that are personal to them, would prefer to stay working – some on a full-time basis, others preferring part-time or casual employment. These people don’t want to retire.
Still other people have to stay in paid work because of financial and other pressures. For them, retirement is simply not an option.
What I am describing here is choice – the choice to retire, the choice to stay working because you want to, and having the choice to stay in work because you need to.
We all have the right to work, however the reality is not that simple.
On Monday, the federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, released the Government’s 2010 Intergenerational Report. In his speech, he made an extremely important point. He said, “The choice for older Australians to stay in or leave the workforce should be just that – a choice, not something forced on them by prejudice or bad policy.”
In making his point, Mr Swan rightly acknowledged that ageism and age based prejudice can prevent mature age workers from exercising their choice to stay in work.
We live in a culture that is largely obsessed with appearance and places high value on being “vital and young”. These values often lead to systematic stereotyping of, and discrimination against, people simply because of their age – in this case, mature age. That is ageism. The unfortunate thing about stereotypes like, “mature people are slow to pick up technology”, is not just that they are untrue, but that they are often accepted as “truth” or “reality”. Ageism strongly implies a message of decline and of burden.
In the employment arena, I am talking about people over a certain age being ignored in recruitment processes, people being told by others that they are too old and should move aside to let a younger person have their job, people being overlooked for training and development because they are too old to pick it up and “are going to retire soon, anyway”.
These sorts of discriminatory practices are not only unfair, they are unlawful and can have profound psychological and social impacts. As a result, mature age workers may no longer feel welcome in the workplace, no longer feel able to compete for jobs or apply for promotions, and they may give up altogether. This is the “forced” retirement to which Mr Swan alluded.
A woman recently wrote to me, “… I’m currently studying a Master of Human Resource Management… it does not make one scrap of difference in the job market. I have three other degrees that also fit in contemporary markets. I’m 54. No-one wants me. It is very disillusioning.”
In my role as Commissioner for Age Discrimination, I have met with a host of individuals and community and advocacy groups, and I have spoken on radio shows and taken talkback calls on this issue. I can tell you first-hand of the heartfelt stories of rejection, isolation and lost hope that people tell me when they talk about their experiences as mature age workers. It is one thing to hear that you’re not appropriately skilled for a role. That’s something you can often fix. But it’s quite another thing to feel that you missed out on the job because of your age, despite having all the skills required.
Australia’s changing age profile presents us not only with economic opportunity but with opportunity for individuals to live their life as they choose, to secure their financial future, and for all of us to build a socially inclusive community that values the rights and contribution of people of all ages.
But this will not happen unless each one of us is able to recognize ageism - wherever it may exist - and be prepared to stand against it.
Elizabeth Broderick is Australia’s Commissioner for Age Discrimination.
