Ageism is one of the most socially accepted forms of prejudice in Australia. This report reviews current knowledge and evidence on how age and ageing is presented in Australian media, gathers insights from media professionals about the factors that influence media representations, and identifies key opportunities for the media industry and age sector to take a strong, collaborative approach to improving the accuracy, quantity and quality of coverage about older Australians and the issues that affect and matter to them. 

This research builds on existing knowledge about how age and ageing is represented in Australian media by bringing media industry professionals into dialogue on why negative age portrayals persist and what needs to be done to drive positive change, with a view to engaging the industry in the Commission’s ongoing efforts to combat ageism and age discrimination in Australia.

Key findings

1. There are known and real issues with Australian media portrayals of ageing and older people:
   • the framing of ageing as a problem
   • a prevailing narrative of decline, frailty and vulnerability
   • intergenerational conflict
   • gendered ageism, and
   • the invisibility of older Australians and their lived experiences.
2. Australian media representations reflect a broader mainstream culture that undervalues older people.
3. Australian media representations are underpinned by specific drivers in the media industry, including:
   • lack of access to subject matter experts
   • time and resource constraints
   • loss of experienced and specialist practitioners in newsrooms
   • invisibility of age within the diversity and inclusion space
   • lack of consensus among academics
   • workplace tensions between older journalists and younger journalists
   • business drivers.

Opportunities

• Address the expert gap by improving media access to relevant spokespersons and subject-matter experts.
• Address the education and training gap by co-designing and providing resources and staff training to increase industry awareness about ageism and strengthening editorial standards in reporting on age-related matters.
• Shift the narrative on ageing by collectively embarking on a communications campaign to combat ageism within the media industry and in the wider community.