A National Seniors Australia's report entitled, Age Discrimination in the Labour Market: Experiences and Perceptions of Mature Age Australians, said that a third of people older than 45 years old experienced age discrimination in their search for employment.

The report was written based on a research conducted by the Federal Government- commissioned survey. The participants for the survey were people ages from 45 to 74.

Out of the 3000 participants, 13 per cent of them said they were denied training, promotion and equal pay while suffering derogatory comments and feeling forced out. Another 31 per cent of the participants said that they sought out retirement from work because they were considered too old by their employers.

National Seniors Chief Executive Michael O'Neill said, "Workplace age discrimination is insipid, very difficult to prove and quietly undermining efforst to increase Australia's mature-age participation rates. Losing your job at midlife and then being dismissed over and again as having little or more to offer is emotionally devastating. With 15 to 20 years taken off their savings accumulation phase these older Australians will eventually find themselves consigned to living a hand-to-mouth retirement."

The report's key points as follows:

  • "mature aged" Aussies are discriminated through being denied promotions, not being provided with education and training opportunities, given lesser responsibilities, denied flexible working conditions for their health/physical needs, or being forced to retire
  • 16% of people who had worked or looked for a job in the last five years say that they were directly told they were too old for the job. Interestingly, the most common source of direct age discrimination was by a family member or a friend (9%). Other common sources included private recruitment agencies (9% of users of agencies), a potential employer (7% of job seekers) and a work colleague (6% of paid workers). Directly being told you are too old for a job was less likely to come from an employer (3% of paid workers).
  • "mature age" is also a reason to be excluded in the workplace or job search. Exclusions in the workplace included being unfairly excluded from work-related training or education opportunities, being denied a job promotion and being given lesser responsibilities. Job search exclusions included being passed over for a job interview when you were qualified for that job, being told you were "too qualified" for that job, and being asked your age in the job application process.
  • A high proportion of people aged 45-74 years believed age discrimination is an issue in Australia. Two-thirds (67%) of people who have worked in the past 5 years agree or strongly agree that age discrimination is an issue in the workplace in Australia. Perceptions of age discrimination during job search were even higher (83% of people who have looked for a job in the past 5 years agree or strongly agree).

Age discrimination is not the only problem being faced by 45 year-old Australians and older.

Mr. O Neill said that Australians already in the "mature age" suffer elderly abuse which can either be financial, emotional, physical, sexual and psychological.

Mr. O'Neill said, "The right to a safe and secure old age free from abuse and neglect is one of the most basic human rights. But as more and more people live into their 80's, 90's and beyond, it's imperative that we are alert to the possibility of elder abuse becoming more prevalent in our society."

The most pertinent case of elderly abuse is financial abuse.

According to Mr. O'Neill, "last year at a national conference on elder abuse we heard of a number of cases of vulnerable older victims losing between $500 and $500,000 each, often relatives and to their children in particular. Research indicates that the years from 75 to 85 are the times when abuse is most likely to occur. And due to the hidden nature of elder abuse, it is difficult to determine its full extent accurately."