Beyond this, age and ageism are notably absent, or otherwise only featured in discussions about children and young people.12 This review identified one exception to this in a 2023 report from Screen Australia’s ‘Seeing Ourselves’ research series, which examined diversity in Australian TV drama. This report is discussed in the below subsection, ‘Areas of thematic consistency’.13 Overall, the findings from this review of selected works suggests that age is largely absent from the current broader discourse on diversity and inclusion in Australian media – except when it is discussed in the context of women and the cumulative barriers they face in older age. (b) Research on ageism in Australian media There exists a significant body of research, entailing formal scholarship, government-initiated research, and research commissioned by the not-for-profit sector, on the prevalence of stereotypical and ageist representations of older adults in Australian media.14 This research demonstrates that older adults as a group are too often characterised principally by decline, dependency, and vulnerability, with an emphasis on a ‘crisis of ageing’ narrative, which positions the ageing individuals as both inherently helpless and an economic and social threat. This framing is accompanied by an underrepresentation of older adults generally in various media formats, including in television programming and print media. A number of studies and reports have also made recommendations to counter these harmful media tropes and trends.15 For example, the Older Persons Advocacy Network has recommended guidelines for media reporting on older people, which emphasise agency and respect when interviewing older people, and avoidance of patronising language in favour of person-centred language.16 (c) Areas of thematic consistency (i) Age and invisibility Screen Australia’s 2023 report ‘Seeing Ourselves 2: Diversity, equity and inclusion in Australian TV drama’ (Seeing Ourselves 2), identified a clear absence of older people both in screen representations and in research on diversity in the media. Seeing Ourselves 2 was notable for being the first in Screen Australia’s report series on diversity in Australian TV drama to specifically address age and ageing as characteristics that may result in discrimination. The report found a significant underrepresentation of older people in Australian TV drama, with only 6.7% of main characters aged 60 and over. The report also called for a greater focus on intersectionality; though it did not specify how age might intersect with other protected characteristics.17 This lack of focus on intersectionality and age is discussed below as a recurring gap in existing research. (ii) Framing of ageing as an economic and social problem Another recurring theme identified in existing literature is the framing of ageing as an economic and social problem, where people are conceived of primarily as economic units through a neoliberalist world view. This encompasses narratives that commodify older persons either as consumers or as a burden on the nation’s resources.18 Key subsets of this theme include media representations of older people in the contexts of aged care and the COVID-19 pandemic. Several studies have identified negative portrayals of older people in these contexts, where they are depicted as vulnerable, in poor health, less socially worthy and valuable compared to younger people, and automatically at risk of COVID-19 due to their age. This reductive, medicalised framing of ageing is seen to exacerbate ageism, which can lead to poorer health outcomes for older people, as well as contribute to the denial of their agency and dignity of risk.19 Further, while younger people are frequently presented in the media as active risk-takers, older persons are often framed as passive and at risk, or burdensome and worthless.20 Other studies also referred to the impact of structural inequalities on media representations. For example, in the advertising industry, where older workers make up only a small portion of the workforce, studies noted a Overview of literature review and content analysis 13