What Is Age Discrimination in the Workplace

Age discrimination in the workplace is when a person is treated less favourably at work because of their age, or because of assumptions attached to their age. It is unlawful under the Age Discrimination Act 2004 and it cuts both ways. Older workers and workers under 25 both experience it, and it applies at every stage from advertising a role through to redundancy.

It is usually assumption, not hostility. Common patterns in Australian workplaces include:

• Screening out applicants by graduation year or years of experience rather than capability
• Assuming an older worker will not pick up new systems, or that a younger worker will not stay
• Steering training, stretch projects or promotions towards one age band
• Job ads coded for age, such as “recent graduate”, “digital native” or “high energy”
• Selecting for redundancy based on proximity to retirement

The scale of the assumption problem is measurable. Research published by the Australian HR Institute and the Australian Human Rights Commission in July 2025 found that 24% of HR professionals now classify workers aged 51 to 55 as “older”, up from 10% in 2023, and that more than one in six say they would not hire someone aged 65 and over. Only 41% said they were open to recruiting jobseekers aged 15 to 24 to a large extent. This is happening while more than half of the same employers report hard-to-fill vacancies.

The Australian Human Rights Commission publishes guidance on age discrimination in employment. This is general information rather than legal advice, and requirements can vary by state and territory.

The articles tagged here explain what age discrimination is, how it shows up, and what employers can do. To train your people on the underlying principle, see Sentrient’s equal employment opportunity course, or see how the workplace compliance system assigns and tracks it across your organisation.