Age Discrimination in the Workplace

Age discrimination is when a person is treated less positively than another person in a comparable situation, because of their age.

It could be ‘direct age discrimination’ if an older applicant is not considered for a job because it is assumed that they are not as up to date with technology as a younger person.

It is also considered age discrimination when there is a policy that is the same for everyone but has an unfair effect on people of a particular age. This is called ‘indirect discrimination’.

It may be considered direct age discrimination if an employer obliges an older person to meet a physical fitness test –which younger people are more likely to succeed in – if the fitness standard is not an essential necessity of the job.

The Age Discrimination Act covers situations where you feel that, because of your age, you may have been:

• denied a promotion, transfer or other employment-related benefits
• given less favourable terms or conditions of employment
• refused employment
• harassed
• dismissed
• denied equal access to training opportunities
• selected for redundancy

The law includes all types of employers, including the Commonwealth and state governments and the private sector.

The recent Age Discrimination Survey conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission has found that over one quarter of Australians aged over 50 years have experienced some form of age discrimination within the last 2 years.

This report should serve to encourage employers to begin taking the issue of age discrimination more seriously.

Most people understand that it is more difficult to get a job if you are older but this report highlights the fact that this is a form of discrimination and should be treated as such.

The publicity that has accompanied the results of this survey may give older workers the confidence to take action if they believe they have been discriminated against due to their age.

One of the major findings of this report was that you are most likely to be discriminated against because of your age when you are looking for paid employment.

The telephone survey of 2109 people aged over 50 years found that almost three in five or 58% of people looking for paid employment were discriminated against because of their age.

Of those who were not employed in the last two years but would have liked to have been, one in five (18%) stated that it was because their skills were not current.