More Aussies Plan to Work Past Retirement Age

More Australians are planning to work past the compulsory retirement age, a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

About 41 per cent of older workers plan to work part-time before they officially leave the labor force, while another 13 per cent plan to work until they die.

The tendency to work longer is because only just over 50 per cent of Australian workers 45 and above years old who intend to retire will rely on their superannuation as their main source of post-retirement income while 26 per cent will depend on government pension.

The report came at a time that the Gillard government is planning to help older workers be employed as long as they want to help ease the pressure on the Australian economy due to the country's ageing population.

"Older Australians, with their skills built over a lifetime, make a massive contribution to our economy and our community," Employment Participation Minister Kate Ellis said Thursday at a Melbourne conference.

To help older Australian workers stay on the job longer, Ms Ellis said the government has to address issues such as age discrimination and studying how workplaces, equipment and jobs could be amended to better suit older Aussie.

A report found that age discrimination is second to injury or disability as the reasons why old people find it hard to find or keep jobs, Mr Ellis disclosed.

It is not only the workplace that needs to adjust with the rising number of ageing Aussies, but also the housing sector. In the next four decades, the number of Australians aged over 55 is expected to grow to 11.5 million from the current 5 million at a rate of 150,000 people per year being added.

If all those older Australians would need to move into new homes, there is a need to create 90,000 new homes across the country yearly, although reality is not many of them could afford to move into new homes at their sunset years and would have to age in place.

However, there would still be a need to build at least 15,000 new retirement dwelling annually.

Although many older Australians own older properties, most of these are difficult to sell and for a premium, and with limited renovation appeal to younger prospective markets.