Older Australians – an untapped wealth of wisdom

Ken Wyatt is the Assistant Minister for Health in Australia.

One of the biggest challenges we face as a society is how best to support Australians as they get older. Australia’s rapidly ageing population is characterised by longevity, diversity and a desire for independence. This is as relevant in relation to workforce participation as it to the policy decisions we make in health and aged care.

But there’s an important difference. Policy can effect major change in heath and aged care. Keeping older Australians in the workforce needs something more – cultural change.

Sure, encourage older Australians to take a Sabbatical. Most have been working for decades and deserve a well-earned break. But then – let’s draw on their skills, their wisdom, and get them back into the workforce.

Increasing the labour force participation rate of older people is seen as one way to help soften the economic impacts of an ageing population. Over the past decade, successive Australian governments have recognised this and developed policies aimed at lifting participation among older workers. 

We think about the challenges older people bring to the health and aged care systems. But we don’t think nearly enough about tapping into their brains, using their skills, knowledge and experience. Older Australians are an invaluable resource.

We can learn much here from other cultures, such as many Asian cultures, and among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, where elders are treasured as experienced experts who continue to mentor and teach younger generations. Let’s bring this to the broader Australian society. 

Older people are in a different stage of life, where generally, they’re not as easily distressed or distracted as their younger generations. They have learned life-skills, and developed character traits that only time and the challenges that life brings. Things like patience, resilience, humility, and good humour in difficulties. They have built networks. They have wisdom. They don’t panic. They listen, learn and mentor. They take fewer sickies. And they get things done. They make excellent staff members. 

The trends are positive. The participation rate of Australians aged 55 and over has increased from 25 per cent to 34 per cent over the past 30 years, with most of the increase occurring in the past decade. 

Post-GFC it is likely that the labour market will continue to strengthen for the foreseeable future. As demand for workers picks up, it is likely to create even greater opportunities for those able to extend their working lives beyond the traditional (and increasingly meaningless) retirement age.   

As well, there is a growing recognition of the value of older workers, which is likely to reduce some of the barriers that might previously have prevented some from participating in the labour force. 

But it’s not just about economics or stats. And it’s not about keeping older people working longer – after-all, these people deserve a well-earned break, a rest from working hard throughout their lives. 

What it is about, is Australian society not losing out. Our society cannot afford to lose the knowledge, experience and wisdom by older people leaving the workforce - being put out to pasture so to speak – just due to reaching some arbitrary use by date.  We need to find better ways to be able to tap into their wisdom, to draw on it. 

This has to be a joint effort across society, from all levels of governments and employer organisations – including developing comprehensive strategies around the right retirement income policies, including super and pensions; redressing incentives to early retirement; and providing job search and placement support for older job seekers.

I think that much work is yet to be done to draw on older Australians experience in the workforce – to be contributing to both their own wellbeing and sense of worth and the economic growth of the nation. 

As a society, we need to change our perspective. We need to understand that old is not useless, or irrelevant. Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you’ve run your race. You’re still very much part of building Australia’s future, you are important, and Australia’s economy needs the experience of elders in the workforce.

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