Mark Newton

Note that age discrimination in employment/recruitment decisions is unlawful and punishable by pretty significant fines and civil judgements.

Note also that the threshold isn't whether discrimination actually occurred, it's whether it was reasonable for you to form the belief that it did.

Which is a pretty low bar, and should persuade employers who don't want expensive litigation to go absolutely nowhere near age discrimination.

You shouldn't put your date of birth on your CV. You shouldn't tell recruiters how old you are. There is no reason to know, it's not a relevant factor they can use to decide whether or not to employ you.

Some employers have bad (or no) legal advice and don't behave professionally. Fair Work Ombudsman complaints are free, so you can go hammer-and-tong against those businesses if they step out of line.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-21/ageism-work-employers-age-bias-hiring/105543944

One quarter of employers now classify over 50s as older, with new data revealing ageism is growing in Australia

A new report has found almost a quarter of HR professionals are now classifying workers aged between 51 and 55 as "older".

ABC News
Jul 21, 2025 at 3:33amWeb
Show threadJoanna HolmanJul 21, 2025
@NewtonMark also worth noting that the year of completion for degrees completed when you were young can be a proxy for employers to work out your age
Show threadMarkDJul 21, 2025

@joannaholman @NewtonMark It's all very well excising age clues from a resume, but at the point at which a company conducts qualification verification and a face-to-face interview, the game of hide-and-seek is up.

One could argue that the most optimal thing you can do is identify your age upfront so they can apply age discrimination immediately rather than waste your time with the prelude game.

Show threadBenJul 21, 2025
@NewtonMark You don’t need to put your age on anything when doxxing yourself describing decades of experience.
Show threadGarth KiddJul 22, 2025
@urbanfuzzy… so, don’t do that? Get your CV down to one page. Hold your nose and put keywords for the AI on the back, if you have to.
Show threadharry_wwcJul 21, 2025

@NewtonMark

it is a sad reality, and quite disheartening:(