Australian Human Rights Commission Annual Report November 2022 Supporting and promoting positive ageing ‘What’s age got to do with it?’ is an intergenerational project to identify and explore age-based stereotypes that exist across the lifespan and in specified life arenas in Australia, led by Age Discrimination Commissioner the Hon Dr Kay Patterson AO. Ageism, is that a new word? Informed by the ‘What’s age got to do with it?’ report, Commissioner Patterson and her team have developed a field-based project to develop, deliver and evaluate an educational intervention. This project will examine beliefs and expectations about ageing and older people held by those who provide services to older Australians, and the effect of an educational intervention on these beliefs. “I haven’t really heard about [ageism] to be honest. It’s not something I come across very often.” “[They] see us as unimportant, irrelevant sometimes – not everybody – but I do get the sense we haven’t got a voice with a lot of things.” Focus group participants ‘What’s age got to do with it?’, 2021 This multiphase project explored what Australians think about age and ageism, including attitudes toward their own and other age groups. The project involved: a national survey of 2,440 young, middle-aged, and older adults; 11 focus groups with 66 participants; desktop analysis of existing Australian and international research. The final report was launched in September 2021. The key findings of the report found that ageism affects all adults in different ways across all age group. It identified ways forward to reduce ageism and age discrimination, identified policies and laws to reduce ageism and put forward education and intergenerational initiatives and strategies. 39