COTA Australia, the peak group for older Australians, is deeply concerned by the recent announcement that Age Discrimination Commissioner ‘s role will now be part-time because Susan Ryan also becomes the Disability Discrimination Commissioner, after the government refused to replace Graeme Innes when his term ended.
The Federal Government’s move discounts the time available for the Commissioner to undertake her work improving the respect and rights of older and disabled people, at a time of once-in-a-generation policy changes in both ageing and disability.
COTA Australia Chief Executive Ian Yates said ageism and disability discrimination are both alive and well in Australia, and both Discrimination Commissioner roles deserve to be fulltime to best serve the needs and rights of each community.
“Ageism and age discrimination against any age group should not be acceptable in Australia in the 21st century,” Mr Yates said today.
“Susan Ryan has been a strong advocate for the rights and wellbeing of older Australians but there’s just no way one person can tackle the workload necessary to effectively deal with both age and disability discrimination.
“Older Australians and people with a disability struggle with stereotyping and discrimination every day, they deserve a full time advocate who can stand up for them, supported by full staff teams.
“We argued for years to get the full time Age Discrimination Commissioner position, because it was always clear that the workload demanded a full time 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.
“Older people deserve their own dedicated Age Discrimination Commissioner who has the time to listen to them, engage with a wide range of stakeholders and provide leadership to a broad community discussion about ageism and age discrimination.
“The relegation of the Age Discrimination Commissioner role to a part-time position sends the wrong message –it discounts the human rights of older Australians and the fight against all forms of discrimination.
“As the Federal Government moves to implement some of the McClure reforms of the Disability Support Pension, push for people with disabilities to be in employment and look to raise the age pension age to keep older people at work longer, the protection of these Australian’s rights has never been more crucial,” Mr Yates said.
Media contacts: Ian Yates 0418 835 439, Jane Garcia 0434 489 533