Fears older workers will bear brunt of Tas public sector cuts

Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Commissioner is concerned older workers may be targeted in public sector job cuts.

The number of age discrimination complaints to the commission are second only to disability complaints.

Commissioner Robin Banks said many older workers were complaining they felt under pressure to retire early.

"People feel they're not getting the same opportunities in recruitment, but also... once they're in jobs if the economy is tighter, as it is at the moment, they feel like they're more likely to be approached about redundancy or early retirement," she said.

She added they also felt they were often viewed as less capable of learning new skills, such as technology changes.

"So they are being overlooked for training and sometimes promotional opportunities," Ms Banks said.

The state's public sector is set to lose 1,200 positions because of budget cuts.

Ms Banks said she feared older public servants may bear the brunt of the cuts.

"There have been times in the past where the way in which budget savings at the Government level have been framed is in relation to older workers," she said.

She said she would be surprised if that did not happen again.

"I would think that in some parts of the service there will be approaches made to older workers to encourage them to take up the possibility of redundancy," she said.

A State Government spokesman said the commissioner's claims about older workers being targeted in public sector cuts were false and without foundation.

Attitudes need to shift with ageing workforce

The national Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, is trying to change attitudes towards older workers.

The majority of complaints received by the commission also relate to age discrimination in the workforce.

Earlier this year it launched an advertising campaign called the Power of Oldness.

Sue Leitch from Tasmania's Council on the Ageing said with the Federal Government wanting to raise the retirement age to 70, attitudes definitely needed to shift.

"I think we have to have a serious think about what that will mean," she said.

"Are the jobs suitable, is there a way of transferring all the wonderful knowledge that these older workers have onto younger people."