Conferences
Opportunities continue to arise that enable us to promote ageing workforce readiness across a range of conferences where we have been invited to speak, including:
World Congress Health and Safety at Work, 27-30 November 2023
Workplace Mental Health Symposium, 7-8 September 2023
APS Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference, 8 July 2022
2022 BusVic Maintenance Conference & Trade Show, 8 July 2022
Equal Employment Opportunity Network: Age Discrimination, 16 June
Work for Tomorrow: Awards Ceremony, 22 March, 2022
EuroCham HD Committee Meeting: Multigenerational Workforce, 16 March 2022
WorkSafe WorkWell: Take the wheel, 23 November 2021
Workplace Mental Health Symposium, 20 September 2021
Third Age Network CPA, 23 August 2021
Bus Association of Victoria Members Webinar, 5 August 2021
College of Organisational Psychology, 30 July 2021
AHRI Diversity & Inclusion Conference, Exhibitor, 21 May 2021
AIHS National Health & Safety Conference, 18-20 May 2021
AHRI Webinar Series, 7 April 2021
Wayahead Workplaces, 24 February 2021
SuperFriend: The COVID Age Difference, 11 December 2020
BusVic Women on Board: The Age Difference, 13 November 2020
Victoria Seniors Festival: A New Retirement Transition, 29 October 2020
HBGW Forum: Promoting the Health Benefits of Good Work during COVID-19, 11 November 2020
2019 BusVic Bus Expo & Maintenance Conference, 2-3 October 2019
Return to Work (Safety in Action) Conference, 10-11 September 2019
Innovations and Advances in Ageing Well (APS Psychology & Ageing Interest Group and NZ Psychologists of Older People), 28-29 June 2019
Podcasts
The AWR Project has featured in podcasts about mentally healthy workplaces and creating change.
Collective Conversations with Suzanne Jones
Articles
AWR Project team members have been interviewed for and written several articles about the ageing workforce, providing further insight and suggestions around how to engage older employees.
Supporting older workers with multiple flexibility options
Employers should be arming managers against the myths, misconceptions and stereotypes around the ability of workers to work safely as theyage, an organisational psychologist specialising in workplace transitions has advised. Head of consulting and insights at Transitioning Well, Rachael Palmer, told OHS Alert that employers play a major role in supporting workers’wellbeing and mental health as they age and transition into retirement. Read more…
Ageing Workforce Ready – supporting workers nearing retirement
There are many myths about older workers. Most of them are outdated and do no favours to the older members of your workforce, or recognise the experience they bring to the table. A project led by workplace experts Transitioning Well for AustralianSuper has found the maturity these workers offer businesses can positively influence culture – as well as the bottom line. Read more…
‘Unretirement’ sees retirees rejoin the workforce
Financial needs are forcing retirees back into the market as there is a growing trend for “unretirement”, according to AustralianSuper. Research by the super fund in association with WorkSafe Victoria, entitled ‘Unretirement: Transition Pathways in Retirement’, found there were 169,000 Australians who had previously retired from the labour force but were planning to look for or take up work in the future. Read more…
Ageing Workforce Ready Project
AustralianSuper
AustralianSuper has partnered with workplace experts to investigate how to support workers approaching retirement. Read more…
Navigating Work Before Retirement
AustralianSuper
Older workers can face unfair stereotypes. Know how to navigate these issues so you can take control of your career and make sure your value is seen. Read more…
Supporting Workers Approaching Retirement
AustralianSuper
Ageing Workforce Ready is a project that can help you support older workers in your business and understand the unique value they add. Read more…
Two for one: Why age diversity in the workplace is a good deal
Rachael Palmer, Inside Retail
You may have noticed being served by people from a wider age range when visiting retail outlets. You’re not imagining it. The number of older people in Australia is increasing, and this is reflected in the retail industry. However, ageist beliefs and behaviours are prevalent in society, impacting older people’s mental health and wellbeing. Read more…
Do business better: The next normal needs older workers
Rachael Palmer, nestegg
COVID-19 does not seem to impact everyone equally, and there is a risk that the perceived vulnerability of older people will result in increased ageism. Whether the underlying factors are health, industry or simply age, we can already see employers questioning whether older people are good for business as we navigate this pandemic. Read more…
How to make your dream retirement a reality
Australian Unity
What springs to mind when you think of retirement? Do you have a golden-hued fantasy of travelling the world, renovating your home or playing with the grandkids? Or are you carefully working through a timeline of pre-retirement tasks, making sure your finances are up to scratch and your admin is all under control? Read more…
Keeping up with the older generation
Kate Booth, Collectiva
Australia’s workforce is steadily ageing but the pandemic has brought changes to all facets of life, including people’s retirement plans. Workers may find themselves having to stay in the workforce longer, where superannuation has dropped in value or a partner’s work income has been affected by the pandemic. Others may be facing forced early retirement, through stand-down or redundancy, or fearing age discrimination as they re-enter the recruitment market. Read more…
Why age diversity in business matters
Rachael Palmer, Inside Retail
One of the biggest challenges faced by older workers is ageism. Almost a third of organisations report having an age at which they are hesitant to hire employees, with the majority indicating they are unwilling to recruit employees above the age of 50, according to figures from the Australian Human Rights Commission. While ageism is still widespread, it is based on incorrect assumptions, it can negatively people’s mental health, and it is bad for business. Read more…
Ageism in the workplace starts as early as 45yrs old
Verina Gading, Dynamic Business
About 20% of Australian mature workers – aged 55 years and over – say that they have difficulties finding work or securing sufficient hours. One of the primary reasons for this is their age, even though they are the fastest-growing segment of the workforce.
Older workers are more likely to be discriminated against in the workplace, forcing them to retire early. According to Ageing Workforce Ready (AWR) project leader Rachael Palmer, however, many stereotypes and beliefs about generational differences are not supported by evidence and age discrimination is often fuelled by myths. Read more…
The workplace right older workers don’t know they have
Caitlin Fitzsimmons, The Age
If you’re 55 and over, there’s a workplace right you might not even know you have.
Most people know that parents have the right to request flexible work if they are caring for a child school-aged or younger.
But the Fair Work Act also extends this right – with certain conditions – to other groups of people: carers, people with a disability, anyone experiencing family violence … and people aged 55 and over. Read more…
The ageing workforce paradox
Rachael Palmer, HRM Online
People are living longer, which means they are also working longer either from choice or necessity. We need new thinking about the contradictions and complexities created by an ageing workforce.
When it comes to dealing with our ageing workforce, there is a paradox.
Let me explain.
Many organisations prefer one-size-fits-all solutions. If employees don’t deviate too far from what’s ‘normal’, then organisations don’t need to cater for strengths and limitations, or accommodate differences. On the other hand, organisations have been implementing initiatives to increase diversity for over thirty years. Read more…
Jobs need to be redesigned to keep Baby Boomers in the workforce for longer, experts say
Jocelyn Nickels, Starts at 60
With an ageing population and the need for more financial stability, Australia is seeing more senior citizens choosing to hold off retirement plans until much later in life. However, experts say Baby Boomers risk being forced out of the workforce before they’re ready if employers don’t work to redesign jobs to suit their needs.
According to a recent report, if employers continue on their current path of penalising rather than encouraging older workers, the number who will need to be supported by other workers could rise by an average of 40 per cent by 2050 across developed nations, including Australia. Read more…
A New Retirement Conversation
Rachael Palmer, LinkedIn
People have been questioning the use of the word “retirement” for a few years now. Many of these opinion pieces focus on the negativity of the word – for example, you retire objects when they’re old or broken. The words we choose to use are important because they influence how well we’re understood as well as how we feel. So the label we give to “retirement” matters because it impacts how we relate to others and to ourselves when discussing this topic.
A colleague recently told me how she and her husband were having a fundamental disagreement about retirement – she wanted to retire quite soon, and he never wanted to retire. After several fraught conversations and the inevitable tension build-up she asked her husband what he wanted to do if he didn’t retire. He replied that he wanted to resign from his current job, do some part-time consulting gigs, get involved in volunteer work, and have more time for travel and grandchildren. My friend laughed – that was exactly what she meant by her retirement. Read more…
How to establish a new routine in a time of social distancing, according to an organisational psychologist
Rachael Palmer, SmartCompany
Often, we think of transitions as things like having a baby, starting a new job, or moving cities.
But this pandemic is demanding that we quickly transition to a new way of living and working.
Rapid change can be very challenging, and we need ways to harness our strengths to find our new normal. Never in our lives have we had to face anything quite like this, and we can be at a loss to know how to respond.
Schlossberg’s transition model provides a practical and versatile approach to working through life changes. In the age of COVID-19, taking stock of our routines and relationships to create a transition plan will be a good place to start for many of us. Read more…