The Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, says a landmark study that found widespread discrimination in the workplace against people over 50 must be a catalyst for change.
When Treasurer Joe Hockey launched the Intergenerational Report in early March, he made the point that securing the nation's long-term prosperity would require people working longer, and well beyond the current retirement age of 65.
Ms Ryan, as she launched the National Prevalence Survey of Age Discrimination in the Workplace, in Sydney on Thursday, accompanied by Mr Hockey, said the Intergenerational Report had established "beyond doubt that the longevity revolution is underway, and is inexorable".
"With the average life expectancy approaching 100 years in the foreseeable future, we need to realise if people leave the workplace in their 50s due to discrimination, negative pathways to retrain, they may have an additional 40 years or more without paid work," Ms Ryan said.
Ms Ryan said the report should be "the catalyst for business leaders and policymakers to tackle age discrimination in the workforce and liberate the economic potential of older Australians".
Unless addressed, Ms Ryan said, the issue would lead to massive losses in public revenue, and increase the welfare strain on the budget.
More than a quarter of Australians aged over 50 have experienced some form of prejudice because of their age in the past two years, according to the survey.
The most common complaints included missing out on training or promotion opportunities; that they no longer had the appropriate skills or were too slow to learn new skills; and were often the butt of ageist jokes or threatened with the sack because of their age.
As a result, many said they suffered stress, mental health issues or felt their self-esteem diminish - besides the impact on their families, career and finances.
The Human Rights Commission says the results from the survey are concerning given a third of those discriminated against simply gave up job hunting as a result.
Almost half began to think about retirement or accessing their superannuation fund because of their treatment.
That may not be good news for the government, which wants to raise the age pension access age to 70 by 2035 and pare back budget spending on the ballooning payment.
Mr Hockey said "longevity" was a number that was always underestimated.
"We all collectively need to work together to remove the barriers to a successful, long, healthy life," he said.
OLDER WORKERS AND DISCRIMINATION:
* Over a quarter of over-50s experienced some form of age discrimination in last two years.
* A third of managers say they factored age into their decision-making.
* A large number of workers (43 per cent) didn't report discrimination.
* Half of those polled in the lower income bracket gave up looking for work as a result of experiencing discrimination, as opposed to a quarter (25 per cent) of those in the higher income bracket.
Source: National prevalence survey of age discrimination in the workplace.
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