Report traces how age bias plays out once workers are employed

Tuesday, 03 November, 2026

Age discrimination is known to be significant in recruitment. This Diversity Council Australia and Australian Human Rights Commission survey of 3000 workers looks further.

Age bias leaves younger workers excluded and older workers overlooked, according to a recent report — titled ‘Age, Assumptions and Access at Work: Employee Experiences of Age Inclusion in the Workplace’ — that found one in three (39%) younger workers aged 18–29 experienced discrimination or harassment at work in the past 12 months.

This was compared with 27% of mid-aged workers (aged 30–54) and 19% of older workers (aged 55+). It was also found that younger workers were more likely to experience sexual harassment and everyday exclusion, which includes being ignored, left out of social activities and having assumptions made about their abilities.

Concerning older workers, the report found that they were most likely to say they could be themselves at work, yet were also significantly less likely to have access to development opportunities, mentoring and career support. A key finding of the report was that age is not experienced the same way by all workers, with age-based exclusion compounded by other factors, like caring responsibilities and gender.

On these factors, it was found that:

young workers with caring responsibilities were significantly more likely to experience discrimination, harassment and everyday exclusion;
younger women reported the lowest levels of team inclusion; and
older women were the least likely to receive recognition or have access to career development opportunities.

“This report shows age continues to play a quiet but powerful role in shaping workplace experiences. Too often, assumptions about someone being too young, too old, not ready, or past their prime influence access to opportunity, recognition and support,” Diversity Council Australia CEO Catherine Hunter said.

“What’s also clear is that age does not operate in isolation — factors like gender and caring responsibilities can shape how these barriers are felt. Genuine age inclusion requires an intersectional approach that recognises how workplace policies and practices can compound disadvantage.

“As Australia continues to navigate skills shortages, demographic shifts, and longer working lives, the ability to attract, retain and support people of all ages is not just a matter of fairness, it is essential to organisational resilience and performance.”