Ageing population may ground 'Flying Doc'

The future of the RFDS doesn't lie with its traditional base in the country towns. It lies with the Boomers and their desire to keep an Australian icon going.

The RFDS in Adelaide has an average staff age of about 45. This is old by any corporate standards. The executive is comprised of mostly men in their late 50s and 60s. The organisation has a workplace attrition rate of about 12 percent per year which is high – although about right for a medical organisation due to 'burn out'.

An ageing workforce is not necessarily problematic except for the fact that there is a diminishing youth employment pool simply because there are less of them. As older staff retires, there simply isn't the range of candidates to select from to replace them.

This is far from a 'doom and gloom' scenario. Age discrimination will go the way of the dinosaur as older workers go part time and seek to top up their superannuation accounts. The Government also has a raft of measures available to employers and employees under the Experience Plus initiative www.deewr.gov.au/jobwise

The Flying Doctor can only survive if it takes drastic action to swing its donation strategy to the baby boomers. It also needs to entice younger workers to start their careers with the historic aeromedical organisation. It desperately needs young people with new ideas.