Dr NELSON (12:51 PM) —On behalf of the Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Workplace Relations, I present the committee's report on its inquiry into issues specific to mature age workers entitled Age Counts, together with the minutes of proceedings.

Ordered that the report be printed.

Dr NELSON —I will limit my remarks to a couple of minutes in order to allow other members to speak on this report. Australia is a country in which we define ourselves through our work. Within minutes of meeting one another, the question is asked, `What sort of work do you do?' Work puts us in a social context, it defines the framework of our lives and it gives each of us a sense of belonging and meaningful purpose.

Being without a job not only devastates personal finances but also exacts a heavy social and human toll. As Albert Camus said, `Without work all life goes rotten.' That may certainly be said of the many mature age men and women whose lives touched this inquiry. Their often poignant stories underwrite what is emerging as a significant challenge for a nation whose population is ageing in the face of collapsing age dependency ratios.

As this country moves from an agrarian, labour intensive economy to one that is dominated increasingly by burgeoning technology driven industries and information technology, many over the age of 45 are finding themselves for the first time in their entire lives without work. Not all are emotionally and technically prepared for what is a major transition. Losing your job after two or three decades of continuous work is a major life event. It can be, and is for many, as devastating as the loss of a limb or in some cases even losing a member of your family. Evidence presented to this inquiry included substantially higher illness and death rates for unemployed people in this age group. This should, if for no other reason, prompt governments to respond meaningfully to the recommendations in the report.

Central to the report's recommendations is the need for us to challenge and change the attitudes of society and employers to ageing. Skill, enthusiasm and adaptation to change are not the exclusive domain of the young. To the workplace must also be brought wisdom acquired with the passing of years. Employers need to take most seriously the need to manage redundancy and dismissal processes in an orderly and humane way. This is one of the central recommendations of this report, as are early intervention, modifications to Jobsearch eligibility, refinements to NEIS and guidelines for redundancy and dismissal procedures.

One critically important recommendation is the setting up of a national computer literacy program for the two generations of working age Australians currently over the age of 45 for whom basic computer training was not a part of their core education. They are overrepresented in industries that are a declining part of our economic and social base. I commend this report to the House. I thank the secretariat and all of those who came before the inquiry for the earnest and meaningful contributions that they made.