Maximising the contribution of ageing Australians in our society and workplace

• CEDA NSW Trustee Lunch
• Wednesday 27 March 2019

(Dr Patterson spoke to this paper)

Thank you for inviting me to join you today.

I, too, acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land we gather on today, and pay my respects to the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation and their elders past, present and emerging.

Introduction

What are the challenges to maximising the contribution of older Australians in our society and workplace? Frankly, based on the current situation, age discrimination is the major challenge.

I have made it a priority to address three major manifestations of age discrimination during my term as Age Discrimination Commissioner: elder abuse; older women at risk of homelessness; and discrimination against older workers. I will focus on my third priority today.

Ageing population

It should be no news to you that in Australia we have an ageing population.

We have a ‘numerical ageing’ problem focused on the absolute increase in the number of older people. Australia had the second largest post-WWII baby boom in the world, after New Zealand. (The US and Canada had the highest volume of births.)[1]

We have a declining tax base - a ‘structural ageing’ problem, the result of falling fertility.

One cause was that in the 1970s the pill started to be used widely. It was introduced in 1961, available only to married women and attracted a 27.5% luxury tax. The Whitlam Labor Government removed the tax in 1972 and listed the pill on the PBS. A script then cost $1 per month.[2]

Australia’s fertility rate peaked in 1961 at 3.55 births per woman and has been steadily falling since then. Since 1976 it has been ‘below replacement level’.[3] In 2017 the total fertility rate was 1.74 babies per woman, the lowest since 2001.[4]

As a result, the proportion of older people is greater than younger people. This means there are fewer tax payers supporting our welfare system. Currently in New South Wales the workforce ratio is one in four: there is one tax payer supporting four retirees.[5]

We have one of the longest life expectancies in the world. Since the 1870s, Australian life expectancy has soared from 46.5 years for males and 49.6 years for females to 80.4 and 84.6 years, respectively.[6]

Australians will live longer and continue to have one of the longest life expectancies in the world. In 2054–55, life expectancy at birth is projected to be 95.1 years for men and 96.6 years for women, compared with 91.5 and 93.6 years today (in 2015).[7]

Furthermore, in 2054–55, there are projected to be around 40,000 Australians aged over 100. This is a dramatic increase, well over 300 times the 122 centenarians in 1974–75.[8]

Ageing workforce

You may be surprised to know that 6 per cent of Australia’s centenarians are working.[9] As we face the 100–year life, we will all need to think about working for well over half of our lives. Currently, we do not. The average retirement age for men is 58 years and women 52 years.[10]

For employers, this means getting prepared and having strategies in place for recruiting and retaining older workers.

For example, consider the Australian Public Service. One in three public servants is aged over 50. There are no targets for recruiting or retaining older workers.

The annual State of the Service Report collects data on the headcount of older workers. This includes long-term employees ‘ageing in place’ as well as how many older workers are recruited and how many exit. During 2017–18, the most recent data, six new employees aged 70 and over were recruited. Employees aged 50 and over are significantly less likely to consider leaving due to the impact on their superannuation or the fact they were nearing retirement.[11]

I have asked for new data that tracks career development and promotions of older workers as well.

Organisations that are not already doing so might consider collecting data on the recruitment and retention of older people in their workforces, so they know the state of play and are well placed to develop the right strategies for the situations they face.

Age discrimination is a barrier

What are the barriers to employing older workers? As I mentioned, age discrimination is one.

Unfortunately, age discrimination is a real problem in Australia. The Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2013 report, titled Fact or Fiction: Stereotypes of Older Australians, showed widespread prejudiced views about older people as forgetful, short tempered, rigid and backwards looking.[12] It found that many Australians see ageing as an inevitable process of decline, with the result that older people become a burden and a drain on resources.[13]

The fact of age discrimination remains, and it is widespread.

Frameworks preventing age discrimination

I would like to briefly mention the formal frameworks in Australia relevant to age discrimination.

In 2004 the national Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth) was passed. That Act makes it unlawful to treat a person unfairly, because of their age, in different areas of public life.

The Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) allows the Commission to investigate individual complaints of discrimination, including age discrimination.  

Last year, 8 per cent of all complaints to the Commission related to age discrimination. Nearly 2 out of 3 (61 per cent) age discrimination complaints related to employment, followed by 25 per cent for goods, services and facilities.[14]

My role as Age Discrimination Commissioner is a statutory appointment made under the Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth). The first Age Discrimination Commissioner, the Hon Susan Ryan AO, was appointed in 2011 and I am the second.

As I mentioned earlier, I have made it a priority to address three major manifestations of age discrimination during my term as Commissioner. One of those is age discrimination against older workers.

Older workers are ‘willing to work’

In my work I am focusing on addressing the barriers that prevent people working for as long as they wish.

Age discrimination against older workers in Australia remains a significant barrier to employment.

The Australian Human Rights Commission conducted a national inquiry into employment discrimination against older Australians and Australians with disability, called Willing to Work.[15]

Interestingly our 2016 report title reflects the same message as the 1954 Hutchinson Report, the first major social survey of older people in Victoria. In the context of post-war Australia, the Hutchinson Report recommended that those ‘fit and willing to work’ should be encouraged to do so.[16]

The Commission’s Willing to Work inquiry confirmed the results of our earlier national prevalence survey of age discrimination in the Australian workplace, which reported that one in four (27 per cent) people over the age of 50 had recently experienced age discrimination at work.[17]

I am making it a priority to implement the recommendations of the Willing to Work inquiry report to educate older workers about their rights, to educate employers about how to implement better practices and develop greater awareness about the valuable contributions older people can make in the workforce.

For example, Recommendation 19 of the Willing to Work report focused on removing the age barrier on taxation of redundancy payments made to workers aged over 65 in light of changes to the Age Pension qualifying age.

The devil is in the detail with this issue. A ‘genuine redundancy’ has a special tax treatment which means some or all of the payment will be tax free. Amounts over the tax-free portion are taxed as ‘employer terminated payments’.

If a person is aged 65 years or over (or has reached another age of compulsory retirement), they are not eligible for a ‘genuine redundancy’ and the entire payment will be treatment as an employer terminated payment.

This is set out in paragraph 83-175(2)(a) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) and would require legislative amendment to change.

In short, this was a financial incentive to retire early.

In September 2018 I met with the Treasurer, the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, to alert him to this issue. On 15 December the Treasurer announced that genuine redundancy and early retirement scheme payments will be aligned with the increasing Age Pension qualifying age from 1 July 2019.[18] This means that all individuals aged below the Age Pension qualifying age will be able to receive a tax-free component on the payment they receive from their employer in these circumstances.

What am I doing to reduce ageism at work?

Recruitment, retention and flexibility are some of the issues that I am tackling in my role as Chair of the Collaborative Partnership on Mature Age Employment in Australia.[19] The Collaborative Partnership was a recommendation of the Commission’s Willing to Work report.[20]

This is a new initiative, announced in 2018-19 budget. It draws together 20 senior business leaders, industry representatives and key government officials to identify barriers and provide solutions for older people to access and maintain suitable employment for as long as they wish.

In 2018 I worked with the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) to carry out a survey of over 900 human resources practitioners about their attitudes to employing older workers. We found:

• Two-thirds (63 per cent) of organisations lost key skills and knowledge when older workers left. But, only one in four (26 per cent) did something to capture corporate knowledge from exiting older workers.
• One in five (22 per cent) line managers are given training on unconscious bias. But, more organisations (up 8 per cent) seldom or never include age-related bias in unconscious bias training.
• Almost a third (30 per cent) of respondents still disclose that there is an age above which they will not recruit, with over two thirds (68 per cent) of those respondents suggesting that age is 50.
• However, there is also good news. For example, the number of respondents indicating they have no age restriction at all has jumped from 29 per cent in 2014 to 55 per cent in 2018.[21]

I am continuing to work with AHRI in 2019 to develop compulsory age awareness training for young recruiters and HR managers as a requirement for their professional registration.

These projects will reduce ageism in employment and I hope will go a long way to eliminating it entirely so that older people can participate in employment and contribute to their families and communities through paid work for as long as they wish.

How can businesses best place themselves to deal with the ageing population?

Businesses can build their capability in age management. This involves reforming formal policies to ensure there is no unconscious bias and no age barriers for older workers to join, and no incentives for them to leave.

Businesses can also work to update the attitudes among their staff to enable them to be positive about hiring and retaining older workers and become pro-active in realising the benefits of a multi-generational workforce.

Preparedness for dealing with the ageing population requires a leadership commitment as well as a tailored implementation strategy.

In formal policies, does the organisation have:

• An approved transition to retirement program to encourage older workers to stay a few years longer?
• Unconscious incentives for older workers to leave?
• Programs to capture the tacit and specialist knowledge and skills of older workers?
• Reskilling opportunities for older workers to transition to a less demanding or less time-consuming role?

Transition to retirement

My joint survey with AHRI, the Employing Older Workers survey, found that more than half (56 per cent) of respondent organisations do not have a transition to retirement strategy in place.[22] It is worth thinking about how this program can benefit organisations.

For example, Surfers Paradise Marriott faced a potential critical labour supply shortage, with 18 per cent of the workforce being older and 100 per cent of older workers holding critical roles in management, chefs and logistics. To manage the risk of losing the Head Teppanyaki Chef to retirement, they implemented a reskilling program to retain the skills and experience of older workers. The Head Chef reduced his hours to 3 days per week and a mature-aged employee, a former security guard, retrained as a future Teppanyaki Chef along with some young trainees.[23]

Knowledge transfer

The Employing Older Workers survey found organisations know there is a problem with knowledge transfer, but they do little to address it. Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of respondents in 2018 indicated older worker departures have caused a loss of key skills and knowledge in their organisation. This is an increase of 17 per cent since 2014.

But, even though they know there is an issue, only one in four (26 per cent) of them reported doing something to capture corporate knowledge from exiting older workers.

Over the four years since 2014 there has been an 8 per cent drop in organisations using mentoring programs to facilitate knowledge transfer between older and younger workers.[24]

Unconscious bias training

Do the managers in the organisation know how to manage older workers? The Employing Older Workers survey found that only about one in five (22 per cent) respondents reported that line managers in their organisation are given training on unconscious bias.

More concerning is a reported increase of 8 per cent since 2014 in organisations that seldom or never address age-related bias as part of unconscious bias training.[25]

Managing multi-generational teams

How capable are line managers in managing older workers who are in a team with younger workers? Our survey found that few line managers are given training on how to manage different generations. Just 8 per cent of respondents reported that this is available in their organisations.[26]

Managing multi-generational teams, and working in age diverse teams, will be important in the future of work.

What can companies do to best prepare themselves for this?

Organisations should take up a challenge to become an employer of choice for mature age workers. They can achieve this by offering quality jobs that include flexible working arrangements and other conditions.

It is a fiction that older workers are in decline, a burden and a drain, and a fact that they are skilled, engaged and interested when they are given the opportunity to participate and contribute.

It is important for organisations to consider that once an older worker is out of work, they are far less likely to find new work than a younger work. They will be out of work on average for around 76 weeks which is 20 weeks longer than a prime age worker.[27]

Being out of work is the third top personal stresses – after their own illness and the death of someone close – for people aged 45 and over.[28]

Quality jobs

Organisations need to think about the type of jobs they offer to older workers. Two of the reasons that prompt older people to leave work are boredom and a lack of challenge. These are also key reasons for returning to work.[29]

Formal fixed-term fellowships

This is a formal program that may, for example, comprise a 12-month fixed-term job, not unlike a graduate program, that gives an older worker exposure to a range of new roles across an industry, and ideally would offer opportunities for them to upskill. A version of this type of program from Platform to Employment (P2E) in the US includes upfront training and ongoing case management.[30]

This type of program is an important new measure for long-term unemployed baby boomers who, because of a range of complex interconnected barriers, are not well-placed to secure work without tailored help.

Many baby boomers have relatively lower levels of formal education than younger people in Australia. For example, they may have left school after Year 9. This means they are often in low skill, low pay jobs, which are not growing as much as higher skill jobs, and they are often casual jobs. For these and other reasons, long-term unemployed baby boomers may also face age discrimination in recruitment.

Flexibility works

The Employing Older Workers survey found the most common recruitment practices for attracting older workers is offering flexible working (42 per cent). The top reason that encourages older workers to remain in the workforce is flexible work – up 8 per cent since 2014. The most common tool organisations use to retain older workers is flexible working hours (76 per cent).[31]

Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), people aged 55 and over can request flexible working. But, flexibility makes good business sense for the whole workforce.

Productivity benefits

There are productivity benefits of part-time jobs for employers. A study of the Dutch pharmacy sector found that a 10 per cent increase in the part-time share translated to 4.8 per cent higher productivity.[32]

A Melbourne study of 7,500 people aged 40 and over found they work more productively part time, with three days per week (around 25–30 hours for men and 22–27 hours for women) being the ‘sweet spot’ for the highest level of brain functioning.[33]

New job sharing relationships

In the past employers who have used job sharing have tended to pair two similarly experienced mid-career workers who have parenting responsibilities. An older worker and a younger parent probably have differing needs and differing timetables, so they can complement each other.

Compressed week

Perpetual Guardian NZ trialled a four-day working week for 200 employees for 8 weeks with normal pay and conditions unchanged. Productivity increased by 20 per cent and workers felt happier, with the formal external evaluation finding job and life satisfaction increased on all levels, at home and at work. It has been rolled out across the workforce on an opt-in basis.[34]

Other studies, such as a two-year work trial at an aged care home in Gothenburg in Sweden, found reducing the working week has benefits – the minimum was maintaining productivity, improving job satisfaction and reducing sickness absence.[35]

In Australia, Queensland Government is promoting a four-day week and a nine-day fortnight as common compressed working schedules.[36]

Seasonal flexible work patterns

There are examples of whole-of-workforce programs that include older workers. One is the Unilever Foods factory at Tatura in Victoria which employs a stable, seasonal workforce from the local community. The workforce is not casual. Rather, since 2016 they have flexible permanent part-time roles under a ‘flex for all’ diversity and inclusion policy offering flexible working arrangements to anyone. In 2018 Unilever Streets Ice cream factory at Minto in New South Wales began implementing this initiative.[37]

This model has a lot of potential for older workers to take sabbatical breaks. They might elect to spend a long winter or summer break interstate or overseas with their grandchildren, or to travel in a caravan or on a cruise, or just to take a break to balance their work, life and physical or mental health.

Innovative ways of organising teams

In my engagements in the community, I have learned about a number of innovative ways of organising teams. In the Illawarra region of New South Wales, a car dealership delivery service implemented a self-managed team of older workers for moving cars in the yard and delivering after servicing. The employees are responsible for allocating their time and their tasks across the team in order to meet defined deadlines and milestones set by the employer.

Another example I often cite is Bunnings travelling teams. Employees can take up a short-term relocation to another Bunnings store across Australia when they need to manage work life balance or caring responsibilities. Initially an older worker program, it has been so successful that is has been developed into a whole-of-workforce program.

Flexibility and productivity

The business case for flexible roles is a strong one.

Analysis by EY in 2013 shows that employing more women in flexible roles would translate to a significant saving in wasted wages. Women in flexible roles waste only 11.1 per cent compared to an average of 14.5 per cent for the rest of the working population. Just under half (43.2 per cent) of women in the workforce work part-time compared to 13.5 per cent of men, which translates into a significant productivity bonus that few employers are recognising.[38]

This shows there are economic benefits for providing flexible roles and there is no business reason why these need be for younger women only. These can also be offered to older workers, including women aged 50 and over.

In 2014 the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) reported that less than half (45 per cent) of employers had policies on flexible work, and family and caring responsibilities, but only around 13 per cent had a strategy for implementing flexible policies.[39] By 2017–18, WGEA’s Gender Equality Scorecard shows 70 per cent of employers had a policy and/or strategy for flexible working. Just over a quarter of organisations with a flexible working strategy provide manager training on flexible work, just one in 20 set targets for employee engagement in flexible work, and fewer than 2 per cent have set targets for men's engagement in flexible work.[40]

In 2018, the Victorian state government report published an independent report of the business case for flexible work trials across the Victorian Public Service called Flexible work, good for business? The report found the following noteworthy productivity increases.

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning employs 3,500 people, with three in four (75 per cent) working flexibly. The trial showed an annual net saving from flexible work of $31 million (or 2.2 per cent as a proportion of output appropriations), with savings of $41 million, including $2.4 million in reduced absenteeism and $630,000 in reduced recruitment, and costs of $10 million, including $8 million in management burden. This is a 5–year return on investment of $135 million.

Mercy Health employs 7,300 people, with three in four (75 per cent) working flexibly. The annual net saving from flexible work was $23 million (or 3.92 per cent as a proportion of total operating revenue), with savings of $47 million, including $3.7 million in reduced recruitment and $420,000 in reduced absenteeism, and costs of $24 million, including $17.6 million in onboarding burden and $4.4 million in IT expenses. This is a 5–year return on investment of $100 million.[41]

I encourage organisations to explore the possible savings of implementing flexible working arrangements across their workforces. For example, Nous Group have created ‘Felix’, a free and confidential Flexiwork Savings Calculator that models individual cases.[42]

Benefits for businesses that employ an age diverse workforce

There is a real economic gain.

In a 2012 report commissioned by my predecessor, the Hon Susan Ryan AO, Deloitte Access Economics estimated a 3 per cent increase in participation by the over 55s would generate a $33 billion annual boost to the national economy. A 5 per cent increase in participation would see a $48 billion boost to the economy.[43]

Those gains would come on top of an expected $55 billion or 2.7 per cent boost from participation among the over 55s already factored into the 2015 Intergenerational Report.

These are big numbers. I want organisations to look at how progress can be towards achieving this.

Current productivity growth

In 2016 the average annual productivity growth for the previous 10 years was 0.9 per cent. An increase of annual productivity growth to 2 per cent per annum from 0.9 per cent will entirely close the labour shortage gap. This is more than double the current rate of productivity growth.

Over the past 35 years, the productivity growth rate has averaged 1.36 per cent. Thus, a consistent productive growth of 2 per cent per annum over the coming decades would be unprecedented.

Optimising the use of the available labour force will be required to maintain current levels of economic growth and meet projected labour demand.[44]

In short, we need to employ older workers. This means being proactive about recruiting older workers and creating opportunities that are attractive to older workers.

Productivity in New South Wales

Projections for the increasing participation of older age groups in New South Wales show that between 2014–15 and 2055–56 labour force participation rates of people:

• aged 55–59 will increase 11 per cent
• aged 60–64 will increase 17 per cent
• aged 65 and over will increase 6 per cent, from 12 per cent to 18 per cent

The strongest increases are expected for:

• women aged 55–59, a 16 percentage point increase from 66 per cent today to 82 per cent in 2055–56
• men aged 60–64, a 19 percentage point increase from 62 per cent today to 81 per cent in 2055–56

Older people in New South Wales will continue working either because they can comfortably do so, with higher levels of education and better health that enables them to gain quality jobs, or because they need to continue working because they have insufficient funds to retire.[45]

Conclusion

There is a lot still to be done. But since I have been in the role as Age Discrimination Commissioner, I have been encouraged by the tireless work I have seen of many people across the government, the business and community sectors, and the wider community, working to address age discrimination.

At this point I think we need to push a reset switch and to try some new and innovative policy solutions.

It is crucial that the evaluated successful solutions are implemented and translated into practice as a routine part of business for the future of work in an ageing population.

That is the challenge I present today.

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[1] J. van Bavel and D. S. Reher, The Baby Boom and Its Causes: What We Know and What We Need to Know, Population and Development Review, 39.2, June 2013, pp. 257-288.

[2] National Museum of Australia, Defining Moments: The Pill. At https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/the-pill (viewed 19 March 2019).

[3] Australian Institute of Family Studies, Births in Australia. At https://aifs.gov.au/facts-and-figures/births-australia (viewed 19 March 2019).

[4] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 3301.0 – Births in Australia, 2017. At http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3301.0Main+Features12017?OpenDocument (viewed 19 March 2019).

[5] NSW Treasury, Intergenerational Report, 2016. At https://www.treasury.nsw.gov.au/nsw-economy/intergenerational-report (viewed 19 March 2019).

[6] ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research, CEPAR Fact Sheet: Australian Life Tables: 150 Years in the Making, 2018. At http://www.cepar.edu.au/sites/default/files/2018_FS_life-tables-fact-sheet_0.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[7] The Treasury, 2015 Intergenerational Report: Australia in 2055, 2015. At https://treasury.gov.au/publication/2015-intergenerational-report/chapter-1-how-will-australia-change-over-the-next-40-years/ (viewed 19 March 2019).

[8] The Treasury, 2015 Intergenerational Report: Australia in 2055, 2015. At https://treasury.gov.au/publication/2015-intergenerational-report/chapter-1-how-will-australia-change-over-the-next-40-years/ (viewed 19 March 2019).

[9] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2071.0 – Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia – Stories from the Census, 2016 (ABS Table Builder data).

[10] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 6238.0 - Retirement and Retirement Intentions, Australia, July 2016 to June 2017. At http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6238.0 (viewed 19 March 2019).

[11] Australian Public Service Commission, State of the Service Report, 2017-18. At https://www.apsc.gov.au/sites/default/files/18583_-_apsc_-_sosr_-_web.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[12] Australian Human Rights Commission, Fact or Fiction: Stereotypes of Older Australians, 2013. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/age-discrimination/publications/fact-or-fiction-stereotypes-older-australians-research (viewed 19 March 2019).

[13] A. Karpf, ‘Ageing is a mixture of gains and losses’: why we shouldn’t fear getting old, The Guardian, 4 January 2014. At http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/04/ageing-mixture-gains-losses (viewed 19 March 2019).

[14] Australian Human Rights Commission, 2017-2018 Complaints Statistics. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/AHRC_Complaints_AR_Stats_Tables_2017-18.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[15] Australian Human Rights Commission, Willing to Work: National Inquiry into Employment Discrimination Against Older Australians and Australians with Disability, 2016. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/WTW_2016_Full_Report_AHRC_ac.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[16] B. Hutchinson, Old People in a Modern Australian Community: A Social Survey. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1954.

[17] Australian Human Rights Commission, National prevalence survey of age discrimination in the workplace, 2015, 33. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AgePrevalenceReport2015.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[18] The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer, Fairer redundancy and early retirement scheme payments, Media Release 15 December 2018. At http://jaf.ministers.treasury.gov.au/media-release/073-2018/ (viewed 19 March 2019).

[19] Department of Jobs and Small Business, Collaborative Partnership on Mature Age Employment. At https://www.jobs.gov.au/collaborative-partnership-mature-age-employment (viewed 19 March 2019).

[20] Australian Human Rights Commission, Willing to Work: National Inquiry into Employment Discrimination Against Older Australians and Australians with Disability, 2016. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/WTW_2016_Full_Report_AHRC_ac.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[21] Australian Human Resources Institute and Australian Human Rights Commission, Employment Older Workers Research Report, 2018. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRI_AHRC_EmployingOlderWorkers_Report_2018.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[22] Australian Human Resources Institute and Australian Human Rights Commission, Employment Older Workers Research Report, 2018. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRI_AHRC_EmployingOlderWorkers_Report_2018.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[23] Department of Jobs and Small Business, Better practice case studies for employers and business. At https://www.jobs.gov.au/better-practice-case-studies-employers-and-business-0 (viewed 19 March 2019).

[24] Australian Human Resources Institute and Australian Human Rights Commission, Employment Older Workers Research Report, 2018. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRI_AHRC_EmployingOlderWorkers_Report_2018.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[25] Australian Human Resources Institute and Australian Human Rights Commission, Employment Older Workers Research Report, 2018. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRI_AHRC_EmployingOlderWorkers_Report_2018.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[26] Australian Human Resources Institute and Australian Human Rights Commission, Employment Older Workers Research Report, 2018. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRI_AHRC_EmployingOlderWorkers_Report_2018.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[27] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 6291.0.55.001 - Labour Force, Detailed – Electronic Delivery, August 2018. At https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6291.0.55.001 (viewed 19 March 2019).

[28] Australian Bureau of Statistics, General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2014. At http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4159.0Main+Features12014?OpenDocument (viewed 19 March 2019).

[29] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 6238.0 Retirement and retirement intentions, Australia, July 2016 to June 2017. At https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6238.0Main+Features1July%202016%20to%20June%202017?OpenDocument (viewed 19 March 2019).

[30] Platform to Employment. At https://www.platformtoemployment.com/ (viewed 19 March 2019).

[31] Australian Human Resources Institute and Australian Human Rights Commission, Employment Older Workers Research Report, 2018. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRI_AHRC_EmployingOlderWorkers_Report_2018.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[32] A. Kunn-Nelen, A. de Grip, and D. Fouarge, Is Part-Time Employment Beneficial for Firm Productivity? ILR Review, 66.5, October 2013, pp. 1172-1191.

[33] ABC News Online, Three-day working week provides best cognitive function for over 40s, Melbourne study finds, 19 April 2016. At https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-19/proof-that-working-less-is-actually-better-for-your-brain/7337436 (viewed 19 March 2019).

[34] Perpetual Guardian, The Four-Day Week is here. At https://www.4dayweek.co.nz/ (viewed 19 March 2019).

[35] BBC News Online, What really happened when Swedes tried six-hour days? 8 February 2017. At https://www.bbc.com/news/business-38843341 (viewed 19 March 2019).

[36] Business Queensland, Compressed working schedules. At https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/employing/employee-rights/flexible/compressed-schedules (viewed 19 March 2019).

[37] T. Roderick, Does This Desk Make My Job Look Big? The Design, Implementation and Impact of “All Roles Flex” in a Range of Australian Organisations, 2018. At https://sydney.edu.au/content/dam/corporate/documents/sydney-policy-lab/all-roles-flex-report.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[38] EY, Untapped Opportunity: The Role of Women in Unlocking Australia’s Productivity Potential, 2013. At https://www.ey.com/au/en/services/advisory/the-role-of-women-in-unlocking-australias-productivity-potential_1_untapped-opportunity (viewed 19 March 2019).

[39] Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Workplace Gender and Equality Strategy Project Final Report, 2014.

[40] Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Australia’s Gender Equality Scorecard: Key Findings from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s 2017-18 reporting data, November 2018. At https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/WGEA_2017-18%20Gender%20Equality%20Scorecard.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[41] Nous Group for Victorian State Government, Flexible Work, Good for Business? Modelling the bottom line impact of flexible work for the Office of Prevention and Women’s Equality (OPWE), 13 March 2018. At https://www.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-01/Report-Flexible-work-return-on-investment.pdf (viewed 19 March 2019).

[42] Felix: The Nous Flexiwork Savings Calculator. At https://nousgroup.shinyapps.io/Felix_the_Nous_Flexiwork_Savings_Calculator/ (viewed 19 March 2019).

[43] Deloitte Access Economics, Increasing participation among older workers: The grey army advances, 2012. At https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/deloitte-mature-age-participation-research.doc (viewed 19 March 2019).

[44] C. Earl, P. Taylor, C. Roberts, P. Huynh and S. Davis, The Workforce Demographic Shift and the Changing Nature of Work: Implications for Policy, Productivity, and Participation. In S. Profili, A. Sammarra and L. Innocenti (eds), Age Diversity in the Workplace: An Organizational Perspective, Emerald Publishing, 2017, pp.3-34 (based on EY analysis).

[45] NSW Treasury, Intergenerational Report, 2016, p.36. At https://www.treasury.nsw.gov.au/nsw-economy/intergenerational-report (viewed 19 March 2019).