Naming and shaming - getting rid of age prejudice

According to a 2010 National Seniors Report, called Age Discrimination in Employment, 'The Elephant in the Room', women are particularly vulnerable to age discrimination.

Middle-aged women attempting to enter the paid labour force after an absence due to family responsibilities are rejected on the grounds of lack of experience, whereas age was the real reason. Older women are rejected on the grounds of being over-qualified.

This double bind problem creates a subclass of highly vulnerable workers, subjected simultaneously to ageism and sexism.

Not quite like a Virgin

In 2005 eight experienced female flight attendants aged between 36 and 56 bought a complaint against Virgin Airlines in the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal. They had had been unsuccessful applicants for steward positions. All had extensive experience with Ansett.

The complainants successfully argued that Virgin Blue (as it was called then) encouraged a work culture that equated youth and its outward physical manifestations with the ability to have fun. The Court found that the youthful assessors identified with people who were the same age and had similar experiences, and therefore unconsciously, but invariably, preferred younger people.

The complainants also successfully contended that the assessment procedure was essentially a beauty contest, an elaborate ruse to mask an intentional choice by the assessors of the most physically attractive employees (male or female).

They women won their complaint but they still didn't get the jobs.

The time has come to name and shame these employers who are stuck in the past. Call their bluff in the daily papers and on TV news. I can assure you there are enough older reporters who would relish an age discrimination brief.

Conclusion

Potentially everyone that is born in Australia may be a victim of age prejudice. Age prejudice denies full participation to an important section of the community and leads to intergenerational tension.

A socially just society not only epitomizes the 'fair go', but must include those who want to work, whether they are old or young.