The effect this has on older, experienced jobseekers’ morale is disheartening.

Younger Australians are also facing an increasingly competitive job market, which can be seemingly impossible to enter. 

Older and younger people are being discriminated against for two different reasons, creating two distinct groups of demoralised, jobless Tasmanians. 

Older people have unique skills and wisdom to offer in the workplace, as do their younger counterparts.

The Willing to Work national inquiry revealed older people found it particularly difficult to change careers.

Conversely, younger Tasmanians are finding it difficult to begin a career, and gain the appropriate experience to obtain a position.

The ubiquity of internships and abundance of co-curricular activities available to students has made acquiring a graduate job increasingly competitive

Not only does one need a degree, but work experience, most often completed receiving no payment, will appeal to employers. 

The recent federal budget's PaTH (Prepare, Trial, Hire) program attracted significant ire from many.

Interning can, in some cases, be exploitative.

But it can also provide invaluable experience which is the defining factor between acquiring a job or remaining unemployed. 

PaTh pay under 25-year-old jobseekers $200 a fortnight, in addition to unemployment payments. 

Under PaTH, interns would work for 25 hours a week, and earn an extra $100. 

This may initially seem unfair, but many interns who undertake work experience on their own accord or for university receive no payment.

Many young people from around Australia are already familiar with financially empty but experientially invaluable internships.  

As a student, I spent more than a month working for free at two different companies more than six months.

Although it was not ideal financially, the experience I gained reinforced I was pursuing the right career.

The experience improved my resume and undoubtedly solidified my work ethic. 

There seem to be two contrasting attitudes concerning employment and the unemployed, neither of which are conducive to improving the situation. 

On the one hand, there are unsympathetic people eager to deem those on unemployment benefits lazy.

On the other, there are those quick to label the PaTH scheme a form of slave labour. 

If interns are relegated to additional positions and gaining genuine experience rather than completing free work, people needn't feel concern that interns will fill actual employees’ positions. 

An uneven distribution of age in the workforce is detrimental to both older, skilled workers and eager young people.

A solution isn't simple, but it definitely requires consideration and open minds. 

Dismissing the PaTH program as exploitation is short-sighted, as is discriminating against older jobseekers and dismissing their skillsets and extensive experience.

A diverse, inclusive workforce is conducive to dynamic work.

Age discrimination benefits no one.