What's age got to do with it?: towards a new advocacy on ageing and work

Australia, along with the other developed economies, is grappling with the implications of an ageing population. Concerns about increasing welfare costs and shortfalls of labour supply have brought with them calls to prolong working lives. However, current public policy is inadequate if Australia wishes to make the best use of its ageing workforce. Present approaches to both public policy and advocacy have the potential to be harmful in terms of their response to age barriers in society. This report attempts to offer a fresh approach, challenging the basis of the present advocacy on...  [+] Show more

Australia, along with the other developed economies, is grappling with the implications of an ageing population. Concerns about increasing welfare costs and shortfalls of labour supply have brought with them calls to prolong working lives. However, current public policy is inadequate if Australia wishes to make the best use of its ageing workforce. Present approaches to both public policy and advocacy have the potential to be harmful in terms of their response to age barriers in society.

This report attempts to offer a fresh approach, challenging the basis of the present advocacy on ageing and work. Against a background of apparent age inequality in the Australian labour market affecting both young and old, recent efforts aimed at overcoming barriers to older workers are considered and critiqued. The report offers a framework for developing public policy on age and work, proposing principles against which the legitimacy of actions should be tested. The framework has three elements: (1) a need for a life course perspective when considering the issue; (2) a requirement to remove a tendency towards ageism from public policy and age advocacy; and (3) a need for a critical stance on the present public policy emphasis on prolonging working lives. Greater reflection on the meaning of age in Australian society is needed and advocates for older people need to set an inclusive agenda that resonates for people of all ages. The report puts forward a number of recommendations for action.

Edited excerpts from publication.