Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Day's question highlights, yet again, his clear commitment to assisting our fellow Australians to gain employment, whether they be the youth, which he has asked about before, or, on this occasion, those over 70.

I fully acknowledge those people to whom Senator Day referred, who make an outstanding contribution to our community, the volunteers who have already made a huge contribution and who now choose to continue to contribute to their communities and in many cases to their families as well.

The government does recognise that many Australians do want to continue to make a contribution to the workforce albeit on their terms. My department has just published a survey of more than 900 employers. Many employers when responding to the survey made a point of highlighting the experience, reliability, work ethic and strong communication skills that mature-age people bring to the workplace. Many employers also talk about the importance of government financial assistance. To that end, our Restart program provides incentives of $10,000 to employers who employ full-time mature-age job seekers who have been unemployed and on income support for at least six months. So far, already 956 of our fellow Australians have been benefitting from that scheme.

The government is also working hard to create more job opportunities. Coming directly to the senator's question, I invite him and other senators to consider our reforms that we are proposing to the individual flexibility arrangements in the Fair Work Act, which will greatly assist in providing the sort of flexibility that those over 70 would wish and, indeed, need to be gainfully employed— (Time expired)