By
GG 05/13
30 January 2013
THE HON KATE ELLIS MP
Minister for Employment Participation
Minister for Early Childhood Education and Child Care
THE HON GARY GRAY AO MP
Special Minister of State
Minister for the Public Service and Integrity
Federal Member for Brand
Business leaders came together at a Corporate Champions seminar in Perth today to tackle age discrimination and boost the number of mature-age Australians in the local workforce.
Federal Member for Brand, Gary Gray hosted the seminar today and said that for Australia to remain competitive, it needs to take advantage of the skills and expertise of mature-age workers.
"We know there are 3.8 million mature-age Australians nationally, including 349,500 in WA, many who are interested in working but who face barriers to employment," Mr Gray said.
"Yet research shows mature-age workers save their employer $2000 a year compared to their younger counterparts - they are more reliable, loyal, cost less to recruit, and provide a greater return on investment."
People in WA aged 55 and over were unemployed for 42 weeks on average, well below the 77 weeks recorded nationally for mature-age people, but almost twice the state-wide average for all ages (25 weeks).
"While this is good news for older people wanting work in WA, there is still a big gap with the all-ages average and we want even more businesses in this state to benefit from having mature
