The rate of older Australians receiving the dole has increased 45 per cent since 2010 amid claims age discrimination is rampant in the workplace.

With the pension age rising to 70 for those born after 1965, people will need to stay in employment well past the once traditional retirement age.

But older jobseekers claim there must be a dramatic change in the way employers view the worth of people aged over 50 in order to prevent an unemployment crisis.

Feedback on The Leader’s recent stories on a 53-year-old man forced to live in his car after failing to find work from more than 100 applications indicate his experience is not isolated.

Tamworth woman Sharon Hazlewood celebrated her 50th birthday recently and said she had no doubt that younger candidates were favoured in the job market.

She said she had applied for about 50 jobs since finishing up in her role as a permanent part-time employee at a local business after more than six years.

“Out of probably 50 applications I received one call,” she said. “I was applying for anything and none of them stipulated an age.

“I didn’t think it would be as hard as it has been (to get back in the workforce). People say they want the older ones because they’ve had their kids, but that’s not the case.”

Best Employment marketing co-ordinator Scott Saunders said 

statistics still indicated youth unemployment outstripped rates of joblessness among older workers.

He said there were many attributes older people tended to have that made them desirable to prospective employers.

“A lot of mature-aged people come with fantastic skills and they are probably the most reliable people looking for jobs,” he said.

However, Mr Saunders said employers could be put off hiring people over 50 if it was deemed they had not kept pace with changes in their chosen industry.

“Things have changed quite substantially over the last 20 years with technology, and if people are willing to learn and be part of that, then that’s fantastic,” he said. “But if they’re (not), then it probably will become a little bit harder to find that work.”

Mr Saunders said a new federal government subsidy of up to $10,000 for businesses hiring eligible people aged 50 and older came into effect on July 1.

“For an employer, that’s a pretty big bonus. That’s only new and what you’ll find is providers like ourselves are just getting out there now and actively selling it to employers,” he said.

Ms Hazlewood said she was doing a business administration course to boost her skills.