Age Discrimination Commissioner goes ‘part time’
Seniors lobby group, COTA Australia, has claimed age discrimination is ‘too big’ and ‘too urgent’ for the role of Age Discrimination Commissioner to be relegated to ‘part time’.
Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, was recently appointed Disability Discrimination Commissioner, meaning she will have the responsibility of both roles.
Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, was recently appointed Disability Discrimination Commissioner, meaning she will have the responsibility of both roles.
According to COTA Australia, the federal government’s move discounts the time available for Commissioner Ryan to undertake her work improving the respect and rights of older people and those living with a disability.
Ian Yates, COTA Australia chief executive, said ageism and disability discrimination were both “alive and well” in Australia, adding that both discrimination commissioner roles deserve to be fulltime to best serve the needs and rights of each community.
Commissioner Ryan has been a strong advocate for the rights and wellbeing of older Australians, however, according to Mr Yates, there is “no way one person can tackle the workload necessary to effectively deal with both age and disability discrimination”.
COTA Australia has reportedly argued in the past to have a full time Age Discrimination Commissioner position as it was always clear that the workload demanded a fulltime appointment.
“Tackling age discrimination is too big, too urgent and too important to be relegated to a part time role that will require the Commissioner to daily juggle critical and complex issues,” Mr Yates said.
“Older people deserve their own dedicated Age Discrimination Commissioner, who has the time to listen to them, engage with a range of stakeholders and provide leadership to a broad community discussion about ageism and age discrimination,” he added.
As the federal government moves to implement some of the McClure reforms of the Disability Support Pension, Mr Yates said it had never been more crucial to protect Australians’ rights, with a push for people with disabilities to be in employment, as well as raising the age pension age to keep older people at work longer.
