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Discrimination

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Quite simply, what Monash University has done is discriminate against Prof. Jacobs, based on his age. Discrimination contravenes the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 and the Fair Work Act 2009. In addition, compulsory retirement is illegal in Australia and constitutes Unfair Dismissal under the Fair Work Act 2009.
If Monash had legitimate concerns about Prof. Jacobs’s health and safety stemming from his age, they should have undertaken an individual capacity-based assessment. As suggested by the Law Institute of Victoria, assessment should occur on the basis of a ‘person’s ability to perform the tasks of their particular job, regardless of their age’.
In order to keep Australia’s economic activity high, the country needs people to work longer. Australia’s aging population; specifically the over-65 age bracket is the fastest growing age group, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The number of people aged 65 and above has increased from 11.6% of the population in 1993 to 14.4% in 2013. As people are living longer, the pressure on health care, pensions and aged care are at an all-time high. With a low birth rate and little immigration, Australia’s workforce is shrinking, ergo the Government’s ability to fund these increasing costs.
Within the Tertiary sector, it is not unusual to see a large number of older staff. In my experience working at RMIT University, the average age of Professors is over 50 years old. Hugo in a recent report (2008) ‘The Demographic Outlook for Australian Universities Staff’, conducted an analysis of the age structure in Australian Universities and found more than 50% of academic staff were over the age of 50. Academia is an area where age is revered, it takes time to get your work published, earn respect, credibility, complete your PhD and bring in research funding.
As reported in SMH on 11 January 2011, Universities will be facing a staffing crisis as 40% of its academic workforce will be retiring over the next decade. Rather than viewing older academics as not making way for younger ones, we need to understand just how difficult it can be to forge a career in academia. In order to promote junior employees into senior positions, Monash should be working across all faculties on a talent management strategy, implement succession planning and ensure senior academics are mentoring junior academics.

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