Mature-age apprentices face barriers to doing what they love
More needs to be done to incentivise older people to retrain for the workforce.
Let pensioners work!
National Seniors Australia is campaigning to boost the nation’s workforce by removing barriers to older people, especially pensioners, from continuing to work or re-entering the workforce.
Rather than punishing pensioners for earning above the income-test limits, we want the government to exempt this income for pensioners with limited savings or assets.
This will give pensioners increased income and savings, plus social and emotional benefits from workforce engagement.
Find out more about the campaign here.
Employers value mature age workers. However, low wages, the cost of living, and family priorities present barriers.
For people on the Age Pension, or seeking to go on the pension, a serious financial barrier is imposed by the income test that severely limits how much they can earn. (See related story at right).
But there are employers who value older workers and offer flexible working conditions.
Plumber Ian McKenzie employs three mature-age apprentices and is prepared to pay them the required higher wages because of their reliability.
“They have some life experience, so they know how to present themselves,” he told the ABC.
The executive director of the Master Plumbers Association of Queensland, Penny Cornah, agrees.
“Mature-age apprentices can help address the current skill shortages out there,” Ms Cornah said.
“They’ve got more life skills, and they may be able to bring that to your company from a previous employer or a previous career path that they’ve held.”
Ms Cornah would also love to see more women join the industry. Only 60 of the more than 16,000 licensed plumbers in Queensland are female.
However, mature age apprentices are under pressure to balance their desire to work with financial and family pressures.
In the plumbing industry, apprentice wages start at just $16.13 per hour for people who have completed year 12 and are aged under 21. That goes up to only $24.20 per hour for mature-age apprentices.
Mother of three Summer Hodge is a second-year mature-age apprentice who left her career in accounting to get on the tools.
She told the ABC the combination of low wages and increases living costs is deterring people from taking up an apprenticeship later in life.
Queensland Employment Minister Di Farmer said that state alone will require 106,400 additional workers with a vocational education and training (VET) qualification by 2024-25.
Mature-age apprentices face a range of challenges with on-the-job training, TAFE study, and family life.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has recognised flexibility in the workplace as a key incentive for older workers to continue in the workforce.
Its 2021 report, Employing and Retaining Older Workers, found flexible work options was the number one incentive, followed by job satisfaction and the option of phased retirement.
Other suggestions were availability of suitable work, having a purpose, having stimulating and worthwhile projects, and having good health.
Older workers described the following workplace issues as directly affecting them:
• Age discrimination.
• Being able to transition into retirement.
• Flexibility of hours and workload.
• Being “invisible”.
• Job security.
• Mobility and accessibility to the workplace.
• Technology.
• Physical restraints of the job.
• Lack of promotion opportunities.
Further reading: ABC, Human Rights Commission, National Seniors
