007 The Hon Dr Kay Patterson AO Age Discrimination Commissioner Australian Human Rights Commission Message from the Commissioner During my seven years as Age Discrimination Commissioner, my key areas of focus have been elder abuse in the community, age discrimination in the workplace and older women's risk of homelessness. Ageism is at the base of all these issues. Ageist attitudes, such as perceptions of older age as a burden on society and older adults as inferior, contribute to a climate where elder abuse is undetected and even implicitly tolerated. In the workplace, negative age stereotypes are associated with a lower preferred retirement age among older workers, influence hiring decisions and deter older people from applying for jobs. The intersection of age and gender presents additional barriers for older women. Around the world, women tend to find it more difficult to find a job than men, are far more likely to be in low-paid, insecure, or casual work, retire earlier, and have less superannuation than men. These disadvantages combine to contribute to older women’s risk of homelessness. Yet, ageism remains the most accepted and normalised form of prejudice in Australia. In 2021, the Australian Human Rights Commission released its What’s age got to do with it? report about perceptions of age and ageism among adults in Australia. This revealed the pervasiveness of ageism in Australian society: 90% of the national sample surveyed by the Commission agreed ageism exists in Australia, 63% reported they had experienced it in the last five years, and 83% saw it as a problem. Despite this, 60% of those surveyed also reported they have stereotyped others or made assumptions about people based on their age, and 52% believed making jokes about age is more socially acceptable than making jokes about other things like race or gender. These findings highlighted the need for improved understanding of ageism within Australian society. The Commission’s current research evaluates the effectiveness of an educational intervention in reshaping perceptions regarding ageing and older adults among workers in aged care and community settings.