Building a better cultural inheritance for an ageing Australia

Hon Dr Kay Patterson AO

Age Discrimination Commissioner

Keynote Address to National Press Club of Australia, Canberra

Wednesday, 28 June, 2023

CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

Welcome

Thank you Andrew Tillett (National Press Club Vice President) for your kind introduction. I am sometimes introduced incorrectly, but maybe more accurately, as the Ageing Discrimination Commissioner. 

I wish to acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people as the traditional custodians of the lands from which I speak, and pay respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging.

I would like to recognise in the audience distinguished guests, including:

The President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, former colleagues, former staff members and my current staff, here and watching on television. I don’t do this work alone, so I’d like to thank my fellow commissioners and our staff, past and present, for their support over the years.

I am pleased to see members of the press – maybe a little more pleased than my previous Press Club address 20 years almost to the month, when I was Health Minister. How time has flown – I feel a little less like Daniella in the lions’ den than I did on that occasion.

As Australia’s second Age Discrimination Commissioner I would just like to pay tribute to the first - my predecessor the late Honourable Susan Ryan AO.  Susan and I first met when we were senators in Old Parliament House and on my appointment as a Cabinet Minister she wrote to me congratulating me on joining a small group of 8 Australian women.  In her role, one of her major contributions was to highlight age discrimination in employment, and her report, Willing to Work, still has relevance 8 years on – she vigorously promoted the willingness of older Australians to work.[1]  She supported me in my role and her sudden death meant the loss of a great advocate for older Australians.

Introduction

The title of my speech today is Building a better cultural inheritance for an ageing Australia.

As most people know, Australia’s population is ageing. Many of us will live and work longer than our parents and grandparents. Indeed many of you may well live into your 90s and some to over 100. This is where the most striking illustration of ageing is evident. In 1975, Australia had about 120 Centenarians.  By 2021 this had increased to 5,300 and by 2041, which is just 18 years away, this is projected to triple, to 16,000 Centenarians.[2]

In the next 20-30 years, the statistics indicate Australia is likely to experience significant demographic change. Our population will become the oldest it’s ever been. The number of people aged 65 and over will double to 8.9 million, and people aged 85 and older will triple to 1.9 million. But the number of working age people is projected to fall.[3]

The biggest transfer of intergenerational wealth in history is set to happen at the same time, with $3.5 trillion in assets likely to change hands in Australia alone as the assets of war babies (the Silent Generation) and Baby Boomers are passed on to younger generations.[4]

Together, these events will have massive consequences - possible imbalances in workforce and employment opportunities, pressure on particular sectors, including the provision of aged care, and an increased risk of elder abuse.

This can be seen as a calamity, or a perfect storm, or the opportunity for our country to lead the way in creating inclusive communities which celebrate diversity, including people of all ages. Perhaps the circumstances will be all of the above, but irrespective, we must plan and invest in the outcomes we seek as a nation.

In my experience the greatest obstacle to capitalising on these opportunities is the insidious nature of ageism. Ageism underpins much of the age discrimination work we do at the Commission, so we are well placed for this human rights battle.

In 2021, the World Health Organization released the “Global Report on Ageism”. It contains one of the most comprehensive definitions of ageism available:

‘Ageism refers to the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) directed towards people on the basis of their age.’[5]

As Commissioner, I have made it my priority during my term to address three major manifestations of age discrimination — elder abuse in the community, age discrimination in the workplace and older women’s risk of homelessness.  

While I hold deep concerns, and a commitment, about the issues in aged care it has not been a central focus in my role.  This is because there is an Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission responsible for protecting and enhancing the safety, health and wellbeing of people receiving aged care services.

In addition, the Federal Government also funds the Older Person’s Advocacy Network (OPAN) with the responsibilities to advocate for older people in residential aged care and aged care in the home.

Having said that, my team and I have kept a close eye on the Aged Care Royal Commission, especially in relation to the central human rights themes that have emerged concerning the delivery of person-centred care and issues around autonomy and independence.

I am also a member of the Council of Elders, which was established by the Australian Government to consult with senior Australians and provide advice about aged care reform and ageing generally.

Ageism and elder abuse

I’d like to return to the underpinning issue of ageism, perhaps the least challenged form of discrimination and least understood.

Ageism effects all ages. While my work has focused primarily around the impacts on older people, I have also led research and supported intergenerational projects to enhance the understanding and address misconceptions about Australians of all ages. 

Ageism is an obstacle to the experience of ageing positively.

It can result in older people feeling they cannot exercise their rights and that their concerns are not being acknowledged and addressed.

Ageism can be malevolent or benevolent. Families, health professionals and institutions can overprotect and reduce an older person’s autonomy – sometimes to the point of malevolent ageism, which can lead to ignoring their wishes.

Ageism can be two-way.  People can be ageist – making assumptions and judgements about what someone can and cannot do based on their age.

To give one example, a 96-year-old friend of mine in residential care was assumed to have an age-related hearing loss. I helped her family members request an audiology examination which found her hearing was obstructed by impacted ear wax. It was fixed and her hearing aids suddenly worked.

We can also have ageist views about ourselves, known as internalised ageism. This can have detrimental effects on our health and wellbeing. The domino effect is that older people may feel they cannot exercise their rights or speak out to report abuse. This underpins their acceptance of elder abuse, particularly in its most rife forms of financial and psychological abuse.

Elder abuse can start with ‘benevolent ageism’; where attitudes tip the scales towards protection and away from respect for an older person’s independence and right to make decisions. When taken to an extreme, these attitudes can result in elder abuse, leading to real harm to the older person; be it financial, physical, psychological, sexual, neglect, a combination of these, or sadly even death.  

Perpetrators of elder abuse are often family members, mostly adult children but they can also be friends, neighbours and acquaintances.

Worryingly, the current cost of living pressures has the potential to exacerbate the risk of elder abuse. We all need to be vigilant against the likely increase in financial exploitation particularly for families in the current and looming economic environment.

I hear many accounts of abuse when I speak to people across Australia.

Only recently I was told about an adult son who became his father’s Attorney under a Power of Attorney and refused to pay for much needed residential care. The aged care provider placed a caveat on the father’s house due to mounting accommodation costs, learning the son was redirecting his father’s pension to his accounts and was about to transfer the family home. Despite court action temporarily removing financial control, this was eventually returned and the son transferred ownership of the house to himself. He never visited his father again, who died in care four years later.

So what are we doing to address some of these issues?

In my role as Age Discrimination Commissioner, I have been arguing for the implementation of recommendations from the 2017 Australian Law Reform Commission Report Elder Abuse – A National Legal Response, launched 6 years ago this month.

For this I have been advocating for all Australian Attorneys-General to agree to:   

• harmonisation of enduring powers of attorney laws across jurisdictions, and   
• a national online register of enduring powers of attorney.

But the call for harmonisation started long before this 2017 report. Back in 2007, the House of Representatives Report, Older People and the Law, considered the best means for promoting Powers of Attorney and even then recommended the implementation of uniform legislation across jurisdictions.[6]

The Australian Guardianship and Administration Council in 2019 produced an excellent booklet – You Decide Who Decides – to help people plan for future financial decisions. The booklet is filled with reminders about the different requirements in different jurisdictions. I had the privilege of launching the booklet and said I hoped it was out of date sooner rather than later in the wishful hope that harmonisation would be resolved.

Current inconsistencies across jurisdictions cause confusion in the community, making it difficult for families to understand the rules, and for those providing advice across our states and territories. They also impede cooperation between state and territory public advocates in investigating instances of abuse.

Harmonisation would make it easier for families to look after older family members in other jurisdictions, and for people to be educated about their rights and attorneys about their responsibilities. For example, when I visit seniors’ groups very few people know they can revoke their Power of Attorney.

Pre-COVID, I went with the former CEO of Seniors Rights Service, Russell Westacott - who is here with us today - to several info-bingo gigs around country NSW. Bingo and lunch brought audiences of 200 or more older people, and we embedded information in the program regarding planning ahead. Keen bingo players were early and eager, and we were castigated for calling slowly and our card checking. I don’t think bingo is going to be my calling in retirement. However, at every meeting over lunch people came up to me and said: “I never knew I could revoke my Power of Attorney.” They would go on to say their attorney was not doing the right thing.

Banks are also concerned. The banks have identified hundreds of thousands of dollars being transferred annually by attorneys from their principals’ accounts into their own accounts. While the movement of funds is not conclusive of financial abuse; it does raise red flags and at the very least points to a pressing need to educate attorneys about their responsibilities including to act in their principals’ best interests, not to mix their money with the principal’s and to keep good records. Principals also need to know they have the right to change, revoke and set conditions on their enduring documents while they have capacity.

There’s no doubt there is greater public awareness of elder abuse since it first started to gain recognition in the 1990s.  This is the result of efforts from the sector, various governments, individual advocates, and of course the law reform report and responses.

I’d like to acknowledge the collective efforts, including strong support for the harmonisation of laws led by our Commission work and Australian Banking Association’s Anna Bligh AC. This is also supported by key peer advocacy groups: Elder Abuse Action Australia, Older Persons Advocacy Network, Council on the Ageing, National Seniors Australia, the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association and the Consumers Federation of Australia, among others.

In addition, work has been carried out by the Public Advocate in QLD, Dr John Chesterman, to provide a draft model for financial enduring powers of attorney supported by a number of legal and advocacy services.

The Commission, the Australian Banking Association and other advocates have often written to the Attorneys General before their regular meetings. The replies we get about these legal reform issues are, and I quote - “it’s on the agenda”– not reassuring when the House of Representatives 2007 Report said the issues were first brought to the attention of the Attorneys General back in 2000 – 23 years ago! The fact that it is still on the agenda is cold comfort.

Despite this glacial progress on enduring power of attorney reform, there’s no doubt Australia has made progress. We now have a National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians, a national elder abuse peak in Elder Abuse Action Australia, COMPASS – a one-stop online elder abuse hub and the continuation and expansion of elder abuse service trials - including Specialist Elder Abuse Units, Health Justice Partnerships, Case Management and Mediation Services.

We also now have a National Elder Abuse phone line with calls being directed to service providers in each state or territory. I strongly advocated for this 1800 ELDERHelp (1800 353 374). number, which almost didn’t happen, and my team and I have been raising awareness of this number through various campaigns and activities.

Calls to this helpline have been increasing steadily since its inception in 2019. This year’s statistics so far indicate a rise of 28% compared with last year, meaning the call line is likely to record its greatest year of demand in 2023. 

This increased need is also being experienced by specialist services in various states, with some recording nearly a 40% rise in the first quarter this year.

It’s arguable whether this is due to the rise in awareness about elder abuse, and/or a rise in incidences, but irrespective we must plan and take more action to prevent the risks and occurrences.

My team and I have continued to develop elder abuse awareness materials, including bookmarks, posters and social media tiles in 20 languages to raise awareness of the national phone line. Since 2019 we have distributed almost half a million elder abuse bookmarks to 49 partners across Australia.

The Commission has also launched three elder abuse video campaigns on radio, television and social media to increase community awareness of the red flags of elder abuse and where to get support.

What needs to be done to protect the rights of older people to reduce elder abuse?

The 2021 National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study found that family, friends, GPs and nurses are common sources of support for older people who experience abuse. This is why it is essential for anyone who meets older people to know the signs and be equipped to respond.

What I want to impress on you is the idea of pursuing a culture that supports older people in all aspects of their life and all living situations. Everyone has a responsibility to be vigilant. We need as many eyes and ears as possible in the community to combat elder abuse.

There are 5 simple steps we need to know.

1. Understand the red flags of risks of elder abuse.
2. Help older people understand their rights.
3. Encourage people to prepare Planning Ahead documents.  Documents such as wills and Powers of Attorney are important tools for safeguarding a person’s preferences as they age, not just when they are old. But I caution, they can also become instruments for abuse.  It is critical that older people understand their rights, and someone’s appointed decision maker understands their responsibilities.

We have built on this work at the Commission with the 2023 project, Have you Thought about Later Life? This is an education campaign in six different languages, which urges older Australians from a range of culturally diverse backgrounds to safeguard themselves against elder abuse by organising their important legal documents. You can find the resources on our website.[7]

4. We need to help older people to stay connected. Isolation is a major risk factor for abuse.
5. Support them to know where they can get help.

Time restricts me but you can find more information about elder abuse on the website www.compass.info

In addition, be aware of internalised ageism. Professor Becca Levy of Yale University identified a significant association between internalised ageism and deteriorating health outcomes.[8]

She asked her health and ageing class students to picture an older person and share the first five words that came to mind. The responses included admiring words such as wisdom, creativity; and roles such as grandmother…But senility came up a lot, stooped over, sick, and decrepit. Despite this, Dr Levy has found reason for optimism. By exposing people to words like “active” and “full of life,” instead of “grumpy” or “helpless,” she has helped older adults in the way they describe themselves.[9]

I challenge everyone to undertake such a mission, to pursue a culture to reframe the way we all consider ageing, about others and ourselves.

Older workers

Australians are increasingly working to older ages; the average retirement age is rising and pension eligibility is rising. Despite this, older adults face cumulative barriers to gaining employment, such as age discrimination, illness or injury, loss of confidence, lack of training opportunities, and increased caring responsibilities.[10]

Digitisation of many processes – including the recruitment process – may disadvantage certain applicant cohorts, such as older adults and those in low-income work. This can also feed internalised ageism.

A key function of the Australian Human Rights Commission is to investigate and attempt to conciliate complaints of discrimination or breaches of human rights, including age discrimination. This work is not done by me as Commissioner, but by the Commission’s Investigation and Conciliation Service.

In 2021-22, the Commission received 271 complaints related to age discrimination. This equates to about 6% of all complaints received.[11]

The majority of these complaints were about employment and came from complainants aged 55 and over.

When it comes to the workplace, age discrimination can occur:

• at the point of recruitment
• in relation to opportunities for training, development, and promotion
• access to flexible work practices.
• strategies around how retirement is approached.

Ageism in the workplace has helped drive our focus area around older workers.

This year we again partnered with the Australian Human Resources Institute for a fifth time on Employing and Retaining Older workers, an important report which provides insights into the employment climate for older workers and the shift in perceptions around our ageing workforce.[12]

This builds on data collated in 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2021. The report also reflects employment data and the increased workforce participation for older Australians. Despite the 2023 labour market being tight and flexible work practices more acceptable, ageist perceptions and employment practices prevail.

The 2023 report found 18% of employers still say they have an age above which they ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ won’t recruit. The good news is that this percentage has been dropping over the years, down from 52% in 2014, 30% in 2018 and 27% in 2021.  While this is an improvement, it is not good enough.

Age discrimination persists despite this contradicting the real-life experience of working with older people, as noted in the survey.  Many employers report no difference between older and younger workers in terms of job performance, concentration, ability to adapt to change, energy levels and creativity. Advantages of older workers were found to be coping with stress, attendance, reliability, awareness, commitment and loyalty. Advantages of younger workers were their physical capability, ambition and proficiency in using technology. It seems to me that most workplaces would need a combination of all of these skills.

I encourage all employers to include age in their diversity discussions and policies. To not include this is ageist. Creating and maintaining an age diverse workforce is more reflective of our society and good business. Employers who ignore the experience and qualities of older people, and the advantages of the 5-Generation workforce, do so at their peril. This is also important to older people considering the pension age is rising to 67 years next week, and increasing longevity. A 5G workplace is a win-win.

Older women at risk of homelessness

But what happens to older people when they can no longer work, particularly the current cohort of older women who didn’t have access to compulsory superannuation when they started working. 

Older women are the fastest growing group of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, increasing 31% between 2011 and 2016.  Their circumstances vary, the end of a job or illness, for example, can force them into this dire situation. [13]

Stable, affordable housing is a key safety issue for older women.

Given my resources I have focused on one group – those at risk of homelessness who have some assets and/or capacity to continue working. They are a hidden cohort of older women who have led conventional lives yet find themselves at risk of homelessness as they approach or enter retirement.

In 2019, I launched a paper, Older Women’s Risk of Homelessness: Background Paper.[14] This paper explores the risk factors for older women.

For some women, a single crisis or change in circumstances can result in homelessness with little or no warning.

What can be done? During my discussions with a range of people who are working on this issue across various sectors, I have heard about many innovative models.

We need multiple solutions which consider the range of circumstances of the women in question—from their assets, income and capacity to work, and their age, through to their housing requirements and preferences. The aim must be to enhance women’s housing and economic security across the remainder of their working lives and through retirement.

I have discussed preventative solutions with a range of stakeholders. There have been some heartening developments, such as creative community housing groups providing shared equity housing and some developers have provided some affordable housing within a development.

I have worked closely with the Retirement Living Council and the Property Council and have been pleased to see their response to utilising vacant units. 

Measures like these will make a big impact on those older women who have some assets but not enough to buy a home or retire without dread of how long their savings will last. I have seen this model in action and the older women are delighted to finally have the security of a home.

Developing practical solutions requires engagement across sectors—from all levels of government, property, finance, and business – including banks and superannuation funds, self-managed super funds, property developers, planners, the retirement living sector – through to the not-for-profit sector, including community housing and philanthropic organisations.

There is a lack of incentives, which could be cost effective and be considered to encourage members of super funds or SMS funds to invest in approved shared equity funds or for investors to do the same. We need coordination and collaboration to look at what works and what the barriers are – and they are significant. We need local governments that go beyond talking the talk to supporting innovative building applications, to consider changes to planning laws, and to consult women on housing design…… a bedsit or one-bedroom apartment is preferable to couch surfing or sleeping in a car.

We need an online hub to collate and share the range of innovative models being explored and initiated across Australia and internationally.

The role of the media

Given we are in the Press Club, I would like to touch on how ageing and older people are reported in the media. I’d ask the members of the press to reflect on your own thoughts about older people, your personal experience of ageing, and consider how you might challenge perceptions of ageing, how you report ageism and elder abuse.

According to a Queensland University of Technology study published last year, ageing and particularly aged care is too often represented in a negative light. Older people are being dehumanised and homogenised in how they are portrayed in the media, and I quote from that report, “it isn’t fair”.[15]

Lead author Dr TJ Thompson said, “Most of us get important messages about ageing and aged care, like how older people should behave and be treated, from the news media. For younger people, these representations give them a view to their own future.”[16]

This future view was not positive according to the research which analysed the Australian media coverage of the Royal Commission into Aged Care.

My team’s What’s Age Got to Do with It? 2021 ageism project provided a snapshot of ageism across the Australian lifespan, including the influence of the media. [17]

Participants across all ages said traditional media use age-based stereotypes to characterise people in every adult age group but that older people were often portrayed particularly negatively. The research found these ingrained perceptions result in Australians seeing older people as “nice if somewhat frail onlookers who lacked agency”.

The reflections of some participants question the approach and the ongoing media influence:

I quote, from a young adult participant:

‘While I think it is important for the media to understand and talk about the different issues facing different groups of people, I think it can lead to a lot of stereotyping and two-dimensional coverage that isn’t particularly valuable.’

And from a middle-aged person:

‘A 91-year-old man paragliding had an accident; they (the media) were interviewing him in his hospital bed. He said, “I can’t wait to get out of here to go on another flight”. When I first saw that I thought “what an idiot, he should know better”. But then I thought, “he should do what he wants with his life, I shouldn’t judge him and say he should be in a nursing home watching TV”.’

We can all be ageist - towards ourselves, towards others and in our jobs, even unconsciously. Let’s aspire to be fairer and more accurate so ageing is something we embrace rather than fear. We all have this responsibility and capacity to nurture the nuances of perceptions.

At the Commission we understand from the World Health Organization’s 2021 Global Report on Ageism that education and intergenerational work are real antidotes in addressing ageism. [18]

We followed up the What’s Age Got to Do With It? research with a new project, Changing perspectives: testing an ageism intervention. This work evaluates the effectiveness of educational intervention in reshaping beliefs and perceptions about ageing and older people among those providing services to older people in aged care and community sectors.

To date the team has completed ageism training with more than 300 aged care and community workers in urban and rural settings. The final report is due to be released soon and the findings are groundbreaking and newsworthy. This work supports my long-held belief that ageism may be the most accepted form of prejudice, but may also be the easiest to shift, as is evident from the participants post workshop, and I quote:

“I want to check myself for prejudices when meeting new people, I want to be aware of my language, attitudes, and subconscious limitations I may put on people due to their age.”  

I encourage any of you to share stories about ageing that help address the dominant perception that this life stage is a time of dread, decline and decay. There is much to look forward to in growing older particularly if we can avoid internalised ageism and are able to maintain our health as long as possible.

Intergenerational wisdom and shifting ageist beliefs was also one of the main takeaways in another project we supported.

In May this year I had the privilege of being MC at The Centenarian Portrait Project by Teenagers’ national exhibition opening at the Belconnen Arts Centre. I have been involved with this project since its inception 7 years ago with creator and collaborator extraordinaire Rose Connors Dance, who is here today along with one of the teenage artists, Rika.

I was fortunate to meet many of the 465 Centenarians and the 465 teenage artists from across Australia who created their portraits, and I was involved at the opening of every state exhibition. I’ve been inspired by the magical relationships, the growing understanding between the generations and their strong bonds.

This project counteracts ageist stereotypes. It highlights the rich tapestry of life in Australia, not only through the amazing artworks, but the stories uncovered by connecting younger and older people. 

As one teenage artist said:

“My biggest takeaway from this is ageing is an opportunity for new experiences. It is a fact of life that should be embraced, not ignored.”

The exhibition is still on and closes this Sunday, 2 July. For more information go to the website embraced.com.au

In conclusion

Human rights do not diminish with age.

We must put older people at the heart of the ways in which we interact with them. We can pursue a culture which supports older people, particularly when it comes to their care.

The impending wealth transfer and our ageing population create opportunities for our country to lead the way in creating inclusive communities which celebrate diversity, including people of all ages.

We must plan and invest in the outcomes we seek as a nation.

We must build a better cultural inheritance for an ageing Australia.

I have focused on ageism. As the World Health Organization research has found: ‘Ageism is highly prevalent, however, unlike other forms of discrimination, including sexism and racism, it is socially accepted and usually unchallenged, because of its largely implicit and subconscious nature’.[19]

Ageism may be the least understood form of discrimination. It is pernicious and pervasive but as our research has found, it is easily shifted. I’d like to see more collaboration from governments, philanthropy, the private sector and the media to address this challenge.

Ageism is the underlying cause to most of the age discrimination areas we work on at the Commission. The results have devasting impacts on our community, including older people who want to continue to work and older women who would like the security of a home. These are issues we can resolve.

Elder abuse is a wicked problem. It has serious and often devastating effects on the health, wellbeing, dignity and autonomy of older Australians. However and wherever it manifests and regardless of the reasons, elder abuse has no place in our community. 

One of the biggest policy changes that would have the most impact on elder abuse would be nationally consistent enduring powers of attorney across jurisdictions and a national enduring power of attorney register. 

Individually, we also have responsibilities: to ensure that we are aware of the rights of older people; have documentation in place to protect our rights; know the support services available; be mindful of internalised ageism, the perceptions about growing older, either your own, in your work, or that of older people in your network; and lastly, remain connected to others, including friends, family, and community groups.

Family and friends also have a role to play in reducing risk factors. This can be as simple as making a call or visiting an older person to see how they are.

My time as the Commissioner concludes at the end of July, but I will keep a watching brief and keen interest in the advocacy issues for older people experiencing age discrimination.

This includes the progress of Enduring Powers of Attorney harmonisation, on the agenda now for 23 years, the future work of the Australian Human Rights Commission, and the progress we all make in addressing ageist perceptions to combat the experiences and risks of elder abuse.

Together - We can build a better cultural inheritance for an ageing Australia, and in fact we must.

I often say the culture we accept now will be the culture we inherit.

Thank you.

Endnotes:

[1] Australian Human Rights Commission, Willing to Work (2016), https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/disability-rights/publications/willing-work-national-inquiry-employment-discrimination

[2] Tom Wilson & Jeremey Temple of ARC Center of Excellence in Population Ageing Research, New population projections for Australia and the State and Territories with a particular focus on population ageing (Working Paper 2022/11), ref from page 13 https://www.cepar.edu.au/sites/default/files/WP2022%3A11_New%20projections%20of%20population%20ageing%20for%20Australia%20%2810%20Aug%202022%29.pdf

[ii] Dan Harrison & Vanessa Desloires, Intergenerational Report: Centenarians on the Rise (March 2015), Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/intergenerational-report-centenarians-on-the-rise-20150306-13xgf3.html

[iii] Australian Government Productivity Commission, An Ageing Australia: Preparing for the Future (2013), https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/ageing-australia/ageing-australia.pdf

[3] Commonwealth of Australia, 2021 Intergenerational Report (2021), https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-06/p2021_182464.pdf

[4] Australian Government Productivity Commission, Wealth transfers and their economic effects - research paper (Nov 2021). https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/wealth-transfers/wealth-transfers.pdf

[5] World Health Organization, Global report on ageism, (2021). At: https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/demographic-change-and-healthy-ageing/combatting-ageism/global-report-on-ageism.

[6] Australia Parliament House of Representatives, Older People and the Law.(2007) https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4493659

[7] Australian Human Rights Commission, Planning Ahead – Have you thought about later life? (2023) https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/age-discrimination/projects/planning-ahead

[8] Steward, Andrew, Toward interventions to reduce internalized ageism, (2021), National Library of Medicine.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8681078/

[9] The New York Times, Exploring the Health Effects of Ageism (2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/23/health/ageism-levy-elderly.html

[10] ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research, Tapping into Australia’s ageing workforce: Insights from recent research, CEPAR research brief (June 2021). At https://cepar.edu.au/resources-videos/research-briefs/australia-ageing-workforce-research-insights

[11] Australian Human Rights Commission (2022), ‘2021-22 Complaint Statistics’. At https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/commission-general/publications/annual-report-2021-2022

[12] Australian HR Institute, Employing and Retaining Older Workers, (2023). https://www.ahri.com.au/wp-content/uploads/230427-Employing-Older-Workers-Report.pdf

[13] Australian Human Rights Commission, Risk of Homeless in Older Women website page (2019) https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/age-discrimination/projects/risk-homelessness-older-women

[14] Australian Human Rights Commission, Older Women’s Rick of Homelessness: Background Paper (2019) https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/age-discrimination/publications/older-womens-risk-homelessness-background-paper-2019

[15] Queensland University of Technology Digital Media Research Centre, Visibility and invisibility in the aged care sector: Visual representation in Australian news from 2018-2021, Published in 2022

[16] Qamariya Nasrullah, Cosmos Magazine (19 May 2022) https://cosmosmagazine.com/news/media-stigmatising-aged-care

[17] Australian Human Rights Commission, What’s age got to do with it? (2021) https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/age-discrimination/publications/whats-age-got-do-it-2021

[18] World Health Organization, Global Report on Ageism (2021), https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240016866

[19] Alana Officer and Vânia de la Fuente-Núñez, ‘A Global Campaign to Combat Ageism’ (2018) 96 Bull World Health Organ 299.