The Australian Government's Innovation Report

Ageing well, ageing productively
Modifying workplace practices for older workers:
The proportion of the Australian population aged 65
years and over has risen steadily over the past two
decades and is projected to rise further over the next
50 years. A popular response to increased longevity is
to suggest that older workers should work longer.
Working longer involves changes to established
policies, practices, and institutions which are currently
built around retiring earlier.
Working longer: policy reforms and practice innovations is a
five-year University of New South Wales research project
jointly funded by the NHMRC and ARC. The project
will fore cast demographic and health transition in
Australia and develop the capacity to analyse the likely
economic and workplace adjustments that population
ageing will generate.
The research project will examine the extent to which
working longer is an appropriate response to this transition
and analyse how the labour market for older
workers might evolve. It will take into account individual
circumstances such as health, financial status, dependant
care and institutional practices including age discrimination,
employment conditions, work organisation
as well as regulatory and policy impacts.
Encouraging a more vibrant labour market for older workers by
adapting workplace practices. Photo credits: NHMRC
The overall objective of the project is to develop a
multi-disciplinary knowledge base to inform integrated
policy and institutional (or practice) improvement in
the labour market for the elderly. It will contribute to
improved institutional and policy frameworks within
which households and firms modify work practices
and overcome policy and institutional constraints,
thereby encouraging a more vibrant labour market for
older workers.
Easing the hard swallow: A serious and potentially
fatal swallowing condition is being eased by the development
of a technology that combines a clever application
of physics and modern telecommunications.
CSIRO’s catheter is barely three millimetres in diameter and contains a series
of optical-fibre pressure sensors which measure the waves of pressure when
the patient swallows. Photo credits: David McCleanaghan
Using fibre optics and micro-jointing, CSIRO researchers are working with doctors at the Adelaide Women’s
and Children’s Hospital to help better understand and treat the condition known as dysphagia.
Dysphagia affects 5% of the population and although it is most common among small children and recovering
stroke victims, it can affect anyone with impaired muscular function. It can lead to malnutrition, lung inflammation
from inhaling foreign material, choking or death.
Researchers have developed a diagnostic tool that can detect differences in pressure along a patient’s oesophagus
when swallowing. This information is used to construct a profile of the swallowing action, allowing doctors to
more accurately identify what is causing the problem.
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