Start talking about the prevalence of ageism across our society and pretty soon someone will comment that we could learn a lot from other cultures and communities where 'older people are respected'.  While it is true that some cultures have very strong traditions of respect for and inclusion of older citizens, it is not the case that ageism doesn't exist at all.   Just like in western cultures, awareness and experience of ageism can vary significantly and there are many factors that influence it. We collaborated with the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils (FECCA) to learn more about ageism in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

EveryAGE Counts has called on the Royal Commission to explicitly acknowledge and address ageism in a process of redesign of the aged care system.  Failing to do so, we believe, will be largely ‘tinkering at the edges but leaving the foundations in place’.

“In so doing, the ongoing impact of ageism will continue to sabotage improvements and change in aged care and undermine quality of life for older Australians,” we have told the Commissioners.

The EveryAGE Counts campaign is very excited to host the 2019 Australian speaking tour of US anti-ageism campaigner, Ashton Applewhite.  Ashton is the author of This Chair Rocks – A Manifesto Against Ageism, and is an activist on a mission to raise awareness of our age bias – between our ears and in the world around us – and to make age a criterion for diversity.

You may not be aware of it, but many of us are inherently ageist in the the way we communicate with older people. Ironically, it is especially when we want to help.  We can absolutely help people without being ageist.  But first we must learn to ask the right questions, and listen rather than tell, says Lindsay Tighe.

Meet Dr Mike Rungie, member of the EveryAGE Counts coalition steering group. Mike is involved with the Global Centre for Modern Ageing and a graduate of the Modern Elder Academy. We chat to him about ageism towards older people in the areas of growth and learning.

Maybe we’re being a bit pre-emptive here, but we’re very excited to be announcing that we are organising a national tour of US author and activist against ageism Ashton Applewhite this coming November.

While there are some positive improvements since the previous 2014 report, the Employing Older Workers report from 2018 shows that more needs to be done to tackle unacceptable attitudes to mature workers, based purely on age, in the workforce and beyond.

When academic and seasoned traveller and hiker, Bill Metcalf found that his travel insurance costs had doubled - just because he’d turned 70 - he wanted to know why. More than two years after commencing a legal dispute with his global travel insurance agent over age discrimination, he has celebrated at least a partial victory.  His story has lessons for all of us, as Dr Anne Ring explains in this first of a three-part article on the case.

Above: Bill Metcalf atop Mt. Kailash in remote, far western Tibet - a sacred site for four religions including Hinduism and Buddhism and billions of people. 

Last week we took the campaign on the road, all the way to Canberra to the big house on the hill, where we asked all our federal politicians across all parties to support our campaign to end ageism.

Above: L-R: Senator Dean Smith, Dr Mike Freelander MP, Robert Tickner and Sharon Claydon MP

Out of the mouths of 30-somethings have come views such as that of 32-year-old Benjamin Law, as expressed in a Sydney Morning Herald article: “Sure, we’re all gonna die. But getting ‘old’? That’s a privilege, baby.”

In Woman’s Day, just 10 months before she died in 2005, terminally ill 31-year-old actor Belinda Emmett was quoted as saying, “There is sometimes a sense of frustration.........when people say things such as, “I’m getting so old, I’m so old”, when I think that would be great. I just want to be able to say I’m old. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s those things people take for granted that I won’t ever take for granted again.”