Report finds workplace discrimination cuts deep across Australia

Nearly a million Australians feel their boss has discriminated against them over recent years, a new University of Melbourne study has found.

The representative survey of Australian households has revealed 854,000 workers feel discriminated against by their employer because of their gender, age, ethnicity, religion or parenting responsibilities.

Researcher Associate Professor Roger Wilkins said approximately 480,000 Australian workers suspected their employer had discriminated against them in the past two years because of their age, while 270,000 workers felt they had been discriminated against on the basis of their gender.

"Many Australians feel they've been treated unfairly in the workplace," he said.

"Age discrimination is the most common experience, which perhaps shouldn't be surprising given Australia's ageing population."

Age discrimination was also widely reported among job seekers, with 300,000 older Australians feeling unfairly judged when applying for a position.

The findings are based on the experiences of roughly 13,000 respondents to the HILDA longitudinal survey of Australian households.

The report, "Perceived Job Discrimination in Australia," will be published by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Social and Economic Research.