As a way of supporting and encouraging females to take up entrepreneurship in Australia, women who currently lead or own businesses are being asked to share their experiences.
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman has released a survey aimed at identifying any unique challenges and opportunities experienced by women who own and lead businesses.
The results from the survey will be utilised to decipher what can be done to create the best environment possible for women to start, run and grow a business in Australia.
According to Federal MP Bruce Billson more than 97 percent of the women-owned and led businesses in Australia are small businesses.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. Research has found that boosting the number of women entrepreneurs could contribute between $71 billion and $135 billion to the Australian economy and up to $7 trillion globally. I encourage women business owners and operators to complete this survey so we can harness opportunities and look at how to address any needless headwinds or obstacles to their success,” said Federal MP Bruce Billson.
The survey is confidential and will remain open until Tuesday 19th October 2021. The survey questions can be accessed and answered by visiting the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman website.
20 Percent of Australians Report Experiencing Age Related Discrimination
Recently published research has shown that the occurrence of older workers in Australia being subjected to age related discrimination in the workplace has almost doubled in the past five years.
According to the Australian Seniors Series: Ageing in the Workforce 2021 report, one in five workers which makes up 20.7 percent aged over 50 report to have encountered age discrimination in the workplace. These figures are twice as many compared to 2016 which was reported at 9.6 percent. Just over 40 percent surveyed admit to feeling patronised in the workplace because of their age.
Regardless of the prevalence of ageism, over three quarters of Australians aged over 50 want to continue working indefinitely and almost 90 percent of retirees plan to re-enter the workforce in the future. When surveyed respondents said that Finance was the number one reason for wanting to re-enter the workforce. This was followed by missing their job, boredom and a lack of social connection.
“Over one in two seniors feel that Covid has made it harder to get work, and close to one in five feel that recent events have impacted their retirement plans, so it’s bringing a lot of uncertainty into their working life. In response to this, we actually see that one in four seniors admit to trying to make themselves look younger in the workplace or when they’re applying for jobs. That includes things from dying their hair, wearing the latest fashion, getting the latest haircut and makeup styles,” said Tai Mavins, social research expert who spoke at a recent virtual roundtable event which discussed ways to address ageism in the workplace.
Older workers are also becoming increasingly proactive at upskilling to keep up with advancing industry trends, with many branching out into new career paths.
The findings from the research illustrates that the desire to work and to continue learning is there. Similar to many other countries across the world, Australia has an ageing population, and the rising cost of living means people are working till later in life. It is therefore clear that HR leaders must do more to address the causes of age discrimination and generate a truly inclusive workplace.