This discussion paper has been prepared by the Rights of Older Persons Australia (ROPA), a network of Australian civil society organisations and individuals committed to the improvement of the international and national frameworks for the protection of the human rights of older persons.

The paper first provides an overview of the current situation in relation to the human rights of older persons and the international efforts that have been made to improve the situation of older persons around the world in recent decades. It notes that ageism and age discrimination are prevalent around the world and in Australia and that these have a significant impact on the extent to which older persons can enjoy their human rights. While older persons are a diverse cohort and experience different forms of discrimination and exclusion, in many cases ageism and age discrimination influence the nature of that discrimination. The paper notes the personal and social costs of ageism and age discrimination and emphasises that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated many of the structural patterns of ageism and age discrimination against older persons that already existed.

The paper notes that, while the current international human rights standards and mechanisms apply in theory to older persons, older persons are in practice relatively invisible in the existing treaties and the practice of the international human rights bodies. Studies by the United Nations and independent experts, as well as by advocates and scholars, have argued that this neglect of the rights of older persons is not just operational but results from fundamental flaws in existing instruments, including a failure to understand and address ageism, age discrimination and the social construction of ageing. The paper argues that a new, comprehensive, focused and coherent treaty is the only way to make significant progress to address these shortfalls in protection.