At a time when our ageing population is highlighting the impact of early retirement, government and business must work together to tackle the issue of labour and skill shortages in the workplace.

This was a key message at the launch today by Victorian Aged Care Minister, the Hon Gavin Jennings MLC, of the Positive Ageing Project Employer Kit, which includes the Quick Guide for Small Business on Recruiting, Retraining and Retaining Older Workers.

Working in partnership with the State Government, the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry has recognised the need to assist in bringing about a change of societal attitudes towards employing and retaining older workers, by running the Positive Ageing WorkForce Education Project.

VECCI will now be rolling out a Metropolitan series of Positive Ageing briefings in order to inform local business about benefits of hiring mature-aged workers, as well as gaining perspectives from business on this issue.

VECCI Chief Executive Officer Neil Coulson said that, over the next decade, people aged over 45 will contribute to 85 percent of the growth in Australia’s workforce.

"For employers, this represents a unique opportunity to tap into our fastest growing sector of the workforce to either help fill job gaps or enable the transfer of skills to younger employees - this is particularly important as Australia’s workforce will only growing by 12,500 persons a year by 2020, as opposed to 170,000 currently," says Mr Coulson.

"There is a need to challenge a societal culture where employees have been encouraged to retire at a set age, and concerns about the security of pensions and superannuation benefits have prevented employees from continuing working.

"These briefings provide an opportunity for employers to assess some of the benefits of employing mature-aged workers as well as being able to contribute their own views and perspectives.

"I invite all Melbourne employers to attend - we must act quickly to ensure that workers maintain their skills and connection to work as they age, to ensure that industry has access to skilled and available workers into the future", says Mr Coulson.