THE HON JUSTINE ELLIOT MP
Minister for Ageing
MEDIA RELEASE
9 July 2008
SUPPORTING OLDER AUSTRALIANS IN THE WORKPLACE
Federal Minister for Ageing, Mrs Justine Elliot, today gave in-principle support to the
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's launch of a new community
education campaign to combat discrimination against mature age workers.
"Mature men and women offer a wealth of experience to the workplace and give
employers an opportunity to harness their knowledge and expertise, especially in the
present climate of skills shortages in many industries,” Mrs Elliot said.
"Australians are living longer and healthier lives and if they chose to remain in the
workforce, have a number of years of productive worklife beyond the traditional
retirement age.
"In fact Australians have the world’s second longest life expectancy after the
Japanese. About 13 per cent of our population (some 2.8 million people) is aged 65
years or older right now.
“The knowledge, experience and wisdom of these older Australians will help improve
our nation’s productivity.”
Mrs Elliot said the Rudd Labor Government was playing its part in promoting positive
ageing through the appointment of Ms Noeline Brown as Australia's first Ambassador
for Ageing.
"The work being undertaken by the Ambassador complements this new campaign
and I commend it to employers.
“The Rudd Government has also committed $1.9 billion over the next five years to
provide 630,000 new training places including 238,000 places for job seekers,” Mrs
Elliot said.
More information about the campaign can be found at
understanding their obligations under the Age Discrimination Act can be found at:
NEWS 
