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This report was commissioned by the Analysis and Equity Branch of the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA). Its objectives were to report on barriers facing older Australian workers (aged 45 years and over) in gaining access to, and benefit from, training, and innovative and achievable policies for addressing these barriers. Specifically, the study sought to: quantify the current level of participation in work-related training of older workers and compare it with that of younger workers; determine how participation in work-related training by older workers has changed over time; identify factors that may restrict participation in work-related training by older workers; and, propose policy options that may help in removing barriers to the successful participation of older workers in work-related training. The report comprises: a comprehensive summary of relevant literature focusing on differences in the incidence of work-related training across age groups, types of barriers faced by older workers, and the types of initiatives introduced both by governments and employers to enhance training opportunities and outcomes for older workers; the results from analyses of three major secondary data sets (labour force data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), ABS surveys of education and training experience, and the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS)); findings from a series of focus groups designed to gather in-depth information from older workers and human resource managers about their reactions to the main findings of the analysis and the proposed policy options; three enterprise case studies providing examples of organisations in which policies for addressing the barriers to training for older employees are already in place; a synthesis of results from the project as a whole; and an examination of possible policy options. Show less

It is widely recognised that older workers are less likely to gain access to job-related training than younger workers. This article reviews evidence on the extent of age-based training differentials in Australia and the main barriers that inhibit older workers from accessing training. It is concluded that governments in Australia need to do far more to ensure that older workers are not denied access to training opportunities.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This report examines the early work experiences of young people employed in the supermarket and fast food industries and the consequences of those experiences for their future career development. The research was undertaken in the context of major structural changes in the youth labour market, particularly the shift towards greater levels of part-time employment. The research findings are especially relevant to young women as they outnumber young men in both the supermarket and the fast food industries. The report draws on three key data sources: data from the 1996 Census; a survey of young people who had been employed at either McDonalds or Woolworths two years prior to the survey; and a survey of store managers in the two industries. To examine the extent of the effects on young people’s future career development, the authors examined several different indicators, including the skill levels of occupations held by young people, their views of perceived benefits of work in the two sectors, and how the young people fared in terms of seven measures of employment success over the two-year period covered by the survey. Overall, a number of findings suggest that the employment of young people in these two sectors is beneficial to future employment and acts as a ‘stepping stone’ to future careers. However, other findings suggest little or minimal effect on future career development. For example, compared with young people in other sectors, Census data revealed that a much higher proportion of young employees in these sectors hold low-skilled jobs, and respondents to the employee survey were more likely to be underemployed than Australian young people overall. The study also aimed to identify those workers who were most likely to succeed in using employment in these two sectors for long-term benefit. To achieve this, the authors focused on women versus men, non-students versus students, and early school leavers versus others. Show less