South Australia’s public sector employs a large and experienced workforce with about 47 percent of employees classified as ‘mature-age’ (45 years or older) by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This workforce’s comprehensive knowledge base and diverse skill set are contributing to a future-ready public service well-prepared to meet the needs of its community.

In age-friendly workplaces, mature-age workers experience high engagement and well-being and their employers retain institutional knowledge and valued skills. But employers need to understand the needs of their mature-age employees so they can adopt age-inclusive practices and design age-relevant resources.

The Office for Ageing Well is partnering with the Office of the Commissioner for the Public Sector Employment, the Office for Women, and the University of South Australia in research that examines how to create age-friendly public sector workplaces.

The first stage of the collaborative research, underway in 2024, includes reviewing current South Australian, national and international policies, programs, and guidelines for age-friendly public sector workplaces.

The research team is also conducting a series of focus groups with mature-age public sector employees to better understand their lived experience at work. If you’d like to find out more about the research, please contact Dr Sanjee Perera, University of South Australia.