The survey data in this report provides an update on the employment of older workers against time series data from 2014, 2018 and 2021. This year, the survey highlights trends around elevated employee shortages, a sharp fall in the increase in employment levels of older workers over the past year and evidence of ageist employment practices in some Australian workplaces.

It is clear from this report that the employment of older workers can contribute more to easing employment shortages. For example, only a quarter of HR professionals (25%) report that they are open to hiring people aged 65 and above to a 'large extent' while around one in six organisations say they actively exclude older workers from the recruitment process.

This research provides a wake-up call to organisations to consider older workers more carefully when developing diversity, equity and inclusion strategies.