Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald's Press club address

Why Australia Needs Ageism Awareness Day

Shared Presentation with Dr Marlene Krasovitsky from EveryAGE Counts
Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Check against delivery

Introduction 

Thank you Marlene. 

It is a great joy to be here at this significant event. This is my third appearance at the National Press Club, but I'm now about 30 years older than the last time, so it's good to be back as an older person. Marlene has presented a broad landscape of our understanding ageism in Australia, and I will shortly address just a few specific public policy areas affecting older Australians today.

I begin by joining with Marlene in her acknowledgement of First Nations’ people and their lands upon which we meet today.

I wish to also recognise my predecessor at the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Honourable Dr Kay Patterson AO, with us today, and of course, the Honourable Robert Tickner as Co-chair of EveryAGE Counts. 

Ageism really does matter, and the best way that I can think about ageism is to look at sexism and racism in Australia. Sexism and racism are deeply entrenched in individuals and some communities. They are hard to eradicate.

Every single day, the Australian Human Rights Commission fights against sexism, fights against racism, together with many other organisations, advocacy groups and governments,

If, in 20 years’ time, we have to put that same energy into fighting against ageism, we will have failed, and frankly, failure is not on my agenda, and it's not on the agenda of EveryAGE Counts because we can, we must, do something about it now. Today, we must commit to a nation free of ageism.

We all have the right to live and age with respect, dignity and security. Our rights should not diminish just because we add years to our life.  Let us be clear - rights apply equally to all people at all stages of life – including older age. 

Ageism is a barrier to older people realising these rights and being fully valued for who they are, not simply for whom they have been, or what they have done.

While ageism affects all ages, it has complex and costly impacts on older people and their ability to age positively.

We are an ageing population. Statistics indicate that in the next 20-30 years 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.[1] We have a chance to plan. We have a chance to do things differently. We have a chance to shape Australia in a way that doesn't see ageism become the racism and sexism that is entrenched within the Australian population today. 

More Australians will be living healthier and longer lives. Some will also likely be wealthier in older age, but for many this will not be the case as they experience financial and housing stress, increasing frailty and dependency, and cognitive decline.

So the narrative around older Australians is a difficult narrative, as it is both one of strength and one of weakness. 

One of the most worrying aspects is that ageism seems to be accepted within our country and much of the developed world.

As the World Health Organization’s explains: ‘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’.[2]

Ageism is sometimes unintentionally encouraged. How we view the world and those around us is shaped by what we read, hear and watch. The media informs how we see and treat others, and how we see and treat ourselves. 

Media stories can be of immense value in promoting understanding across generations, of their stories and the respective challenges they face. But negative age stereotypes prevail, when older people are depicted in the media as victims, isolated or lonely, bad drivers, more likely to be sick, or simply ignored.[3][4][5]These depictions not only shape community attitudes and behaviours towards ageing but can also be damaging for older people who may internalise these perceptions.  It not only disrupts what may be good about growing older but can destroy it.

The fact is, these stereotypes (how we think), the prejudice (how we feel) and the discrimination (how we act) based on age is consequential, not just when you are older but even how we see our future, older selves. 

You will hear more about this next week, when we release the Commission’s research, Shaping Perceptions: How Australian media reports on ageing which is an insider's look at Australian media and the ways in which the media portrays and shapes perceptions in relation to older people. 

This insiders’ look at the media gives us a way forward by which the sectors - those involved in older persons advocacy, those involved in the services a provision to older people, those involved in the financing of those services and older people themselves – can work together to create a better and different narrative. 

One of the other challenges for ageism is it takes place, not only within an economy or a society, but for many, they exist within dysfunctional systems and families. 

Ageism often begins as an underlying driver for many of those most egregious issues that beset older people. It underpins many forms of abuse and exploitation of older people. 

My role as Age Discrimination Commissioner is to give voice and presence to older people in Australia, just as Kay Patterson and Susan Ryan. It is to ensure that people do not become invisible and worse still, voiceless within the Australian context and internationally. To ensure their issues are treated with respect in our economic, societal and political discourse.

Let me just touch on three contemporary areas. 

The first is in relation to mature age and older worker employment.

Today we have the opportunity to reshape our workplaces to be truly inclusive of mature age and older workers.  We know that more older people want to work longer, we know that some older people need to work longer, and we know our economy, with persistent and growing labour force shortages, requires older people to work longer.

For the first time in my adult life that coalescing of need and aspiration, means that we need an active agenda to create inclusive, multi-generational workplaces where all workers are valued. In many workplaces there are now so-called five generations in the workplace and there are tensions arising within those workplaces between the various age groups. Marlene has already indicated for older workers, just getting the job can, in fact, be difficult. 

So how do we address this?

• This is an area where we can and we must make great strides, and we look forward to working with those in the private, government and non-government sectors, and others, in creating a robust strategy by which we have productive, thriving, inclusive workplaces where all workers of all ages feel they are valued, encouraged, respected and safe. Places where any of us would enjoy working. 
• We need to significantly build on the resources available to aid willing employers to adapt and adjust their attitudes, recruitment processes, workplace cultures and retirement approaches. We need to assist employers to understand the reasonable adjustments that may aid in the employment of people as they age.
• We need leaders in business, trade unions, not for profits and government to publicly champion inclusive multi-generational workplaces that respect and value mature age and older workers.
• We need governments to assist and empower older people to be job ready for the opportunities that emerge.

The second area is enhancing the rights of older people to live free from abuse.

Elder abuse is one of the worst manifestations of ageism. Elder abuse is defined as any act which causes harm to an older person – most often done by a family member. 

I think no one in this room or in the broader audience could possibly disagree that older people in Australia should have the right to live free of abuse. Nothing could be more fundamental to the ability to age with dignity and respect and safety. 

So, the great challenge facing governments, the nine governments of Australia and all of us involved in this space, is to in fact, not allow elder abuse to continue to grow at the rate that it is likely to. 

According to the National Prevalence Study, one in six older Australians identified as having been abused in the previous year.[6]Indications are that the level of abuse of older people will grow, especially with the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in Australia's history on the horizon.[7]

Financial abuse and exploitation in particular are set to rapidly escalate with the rising cost of living pressures on families and carers. 

Also of concern is the alarming increase in financial scams targeted directly at older people. 

Elder abuse is our collective responsibility.

So how do we address this?

• The Government’s next National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians is due for release and I look forward to supporting its implementation. All nine governments must prioritise the key elements of the plan and treat elder abuse with the same urgency as family and domestic violence. It is a national strategy, and it requires a national response, but it will only be delivered with the goodwill of all of us in the community.
• We need to see the establishment of statutory agencies and frameworks for adult safeguarding in every state and territory, like we have in New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT. The time has come for all governments to do what is right and proper in relation to the responding to and investigating suspected abuse.
• We need a fully engaged banking and financial services sector, working together to better identify and respond to financial abuse. Let me say this is one place in which the banking sector is leading the charge in a way. The banking and finance sector is really an active participant in both the prevention and the responding to abuse.
• We need an enhanced and well-resourced network of advocacy, legal and family mediation services throughout the nation, and ongoing community education. One of the things about elder abuse, which distinguishes it from family and domestic violence, is often an older person wants to stay connected with the very person that's abusing them, largely their son or daughter. They want to stay connected, but to achieve that, we have to change the family dynamics. It is about changing the care arrangement. It is about providing additional services. It is about trying to mediate problems, but most importantly, it is about trying to create a safe environment as we go forward. 
• Finally, we must continue the work that Kay started in relation to the harmonisation and registration of enduring powers of attorney. This is a critical element if we are to be able to run national information and education campaigns about those powers. 

Lastly, we must reduce ageism in key social sectors such as health and aged care. 

Ageism is rampant in our healthcare system, and it is rampant in our aged care system. This is evidenced often by the fundamental denial of the right of the older person to participate in the decisions that affect them. I am very pleased that the new Age Care Act focuses on that to some extent. 

How do we address these challenges? 

• We welcome the rights-based, person-focused approach in the new Aged Care Bill, but it is noteworthy that all of the rights that are articulated and the principles that are set forth are not enforceable in a court of law or by tribunal. They have to be, in fact, operationalised through the complaint handling processes, the settings of standards and so on. Why is Australia still doing this? Why do we not have the courage to give the rights to the people that should own them - citizens, older people. It is great that so many jurisdictions around Australia are using rights-based frameworks for legislation, but it is a sign of weakness that we still have rights in legislation are not enforceable. Surely we have got to a point where we can do better than that in relation to aged care. 
• It is delightful to see and important that supported decision-making for older people is a part of the Aged Care Act, as that is an essential part of giving longer life to the decision-making capacity of older people. 
• We must pursue human rights as we age, including in the service systems that we have. Transformation in both the health and aged care sectors that truly values the voice of older people will only be possible if ageism is eliminated. Policymakers and service providers in the health and aged care sectors must stop using an ageist lens to design systems and deliver services, but instead consider how they measure up in meeting the rights of older people, and the expectations of the wider community – so that we all benefit. 

In conclusion

The perpetuation of ageism and cultural dismissal of older people by the media, within families, our businesses and service systems - including health and aged care - is a growing threat to ageing positively in Australia. Yet the opportunity for people to age positively is within our grasp. 

We can, we must, have a rights-based approach. 

We can, we must, significantly increase our commitment to responding to elder abuse in every state and territory.

We can, we must, create employment opportunities for older people within inclusive, multi-generational workplaces. 

We can, we must, design and implement service systems with the input of older people. Older people must not become onlookers in their own lives. They must not be onlookers in the decisions that affect them, nor should they be onlookers in the systems that are meant to support them. 

Most importantly, in a culturally diverse Australia, we must have regard to First Nations and culturally diverse communities with more thoughtful, informed and responsive approaches. We need to respect and seek to better understand diverse cultural communities and to learn from these cultures about how they respect elders and older people. There is much we can learn.

We have to stop making public policy by white, middle-class, middle-aged men and women for white, middle-class, middle-aged men and women. Policymakers have to meet the needs and aspirations of 40% of our community that come from culturally diverse communities- and that means they need to be engaged. 

Governments during the COVID pandemic thought they knew and understood culturally diverse communities, and they were wrong. Today, ageism exists in all communities and we need to better understand and work with all communities if we are to meet the needs and aspirations of all older people.

Ladies and gentlemen, I join with EveryAGE Counts, in encouraging you and all Australian to embrace this contemporary and exciting agenda to diminish ageism in Australia. 

We have the opportunity and the duty to pursue a society where we value older people for who they are. This matters to all of us, to older people in our lives, to our older selves and to our future generations. 

Ageing isn’t the problem. Ageism is! Thank you and may you age well. 

ENDNOTES

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

[2] Alana Officer and Vânia de la Fuente-Núñez, ‘A Global Campaign to Combat Ageism’ (2018) 96 Bull World Health Organ 299. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5872010/

[3] AHRC, What’s Age Got to Do with It? 2021. https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/age-discrimination/publications/whats-age-got-do-it-2021  

[4] The Age, Older drivers caused 145 deaths in five years, but debate still rages over annual medical tests, 29 April 2024. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/older-drivers-caused-145-deaths-in-five-years-but-debate-still-rages-over-annual-medical-tests-20240313-p5fc1n.html

[5] AHRC, Shaping Perceptions: How Australian media reports on ageing, 2024. https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/age-discrimination/publications/shaping-perceptions-how-australian-media-reports-ageing  

[6] Australian Institute of Family Studies, National Elder Abuse Prevalence Study: Final Report (Dec 2021). https://aifs.gov.au/research/research-reports/national-elder-abuse-prevalence-study-final-report 

[7] 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