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Australia, in common with many industrialised countries, must adjust in the coming years to an ageing population. The labour force participation rate is projected to fall and there will be a record number of older people who have retired from work. Thus, there will be fewer workers as a share of the population to generate the income needed to support the entire population. This publication looks at older workers in terms of their employment characteristics and describes ways to boost their participation or to remain at work. Show less

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), informal learning is by far the most prevalent form of adult learning. This type of learning offers benefits to all age groups and people, including older workers, migrant groups and refugees, and people who are disengaged from learning. It is also of great benefit to small business who lack the resources to formally train staff and plays an important role in the workplace. This publication investigates the idea of informal learning, which has been described as an iceberg: mostly invisible at the surface and immense in its mostly submerged informal aspects (Livingstone 2000). It considers the learning that goes on daily in a variety of everyday contexts: from the workplace to the home, and through technology and the mass media. It does so in order to offer some definitional clarity and discusses when recognition and measurement of informal learning can be useful. However it cautions against giving too much structure to this type of learning in order not to stifle its incidental nature and the benefits that accrue from this very widespread way of learning. Show less