ABSTRACT
Australia is an island continent with a population of slightly more than 23 million people of whom just over half are women. Because much of Australia is arid or semi-arid, the population is concentrated in coastal strips in the east, south-east and south-west of the continent. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people comprise approximately 2.5 per cent of the population (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] 2013b). Australia's population growth has been stimulated by international immigration. In 2010, approximately 27 per cent of the population was born overseas. The United Kingdom is the largest source of immigrants, followed by New Zealand. Reflecting its place in the Asia Pacific region, many people immigrate to Australia from Asian countries, primarily China, India, Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia (ABS 2013b). Similar to many other countries, Australia is confronting labour market and social issues related to an ageing population. Older women comprise 17 per cent of the Australian labour market (Tilly et al. 2013). Described as a ‘critical underutilised talent pool' (ibid.: 6), older women have lower labour force participation rates and higher underutilisation rates than their male counterparts, resulting in Australia lagging behind other comparable countries.
