Caroline Baum is an Australian journalist who gained mass attention for her 2008 article "Silver Linings".
The piece was about women fearing the professional consequences of letting their hair go grey, and started a conversation about the of extent of ageism in the workforce.
Ms Baum says age discrimination goes beyond the workforce to general conversation and treatment of older people.
Something she witnessed first hand when she accompanied her mother to look at aged care residences.
An online quiz, run by the Every Age Counts campaign, found 54% of respondents believe terms like “old dear” are harmless, while 18% thought a doctor seeing an older female patient should ask her son’s permission to talk to her.
COTA Chief Executive Ian Yates says ageism has many faces and some people may not even realize they are guilty of it.
