PHOTO: Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, will launch the Australian Human Rights Commission’s new campaign, The Power of Oldness, later this month.

In a recent speech last month, Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, said: “We cannot go on as if we are still living in 1909, the year the age pension was introduced in Australia, with an eligibility age of 65, but only 4% living long enough to qualify.”

Commissioner Ryan called for the federal government to reconsider all policy settings – the age pension, superannuation, industrial relations, anti-discrimination, aged care and lifelong health, communications technology, and planning.

The call for more inclusive workplaces and hiring practices were made by Commissioner Ryan.

“More than half of the age discrimination complaints we receive at the Human Rights Commission are related to employment, and figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that for unemployed people aged 45 years and over the main difficulty in finding work was being ‘considered too old by employers’.”

Commissioner Ryan also spoke about the changing nature of retirement.

“Retirement these days is very different from what it was 20 or 30 years ago. These days ‘retirement’ means any number of things; travelling, taking up second or third careers, volunteering, caring for grandchildren, living as active, healthy and contributing members of our community.

“All of the research to date points to this reality: older people are adopting a far wider and more varied lifestyle than the narrow, negative images we see so often in the media.

“Older Australians have challenged, reshaped and redefined older age and retirement, and the new realities offer endless opportunities for new products and services.”

Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, and the Minister for Employment, Senator the Hon. Eric Abetz, will launch the Australian Human Rights Commission’s new campaign, The Power of Oldness, on Monday, 18 August 2014.

Source: DPS