The future of older and younger Australians are intertwined and pitting generations against each other will have consequences for all, experts warn.
As the Australian population grows older, ageism has proliferated - shortening life spans, contributing to elder abuse, or pushing willing employees out of the workforce.
Many overlook the issue because it does not yet affect them, or perpetuate it due to tensions between generations.
Age discrimination commissioner Robert Fitzgerald and World Health Organisation campaign consultant Marlene Krasovitsky acknowledged inequities between different age demographics in a joint address at the National Press Club on Wednesday but noted the need to unite on ageism.
"The consequential failure of our generation to deal with one of the most significant economic problems impacts both young people and us as old people," Mr Fitzgerald said.
"This is a generation who has continually failed to fix the tax system over 30 years, and the consequence of that is that we are a low-taxing, high-spending nation."
For young people, this has worsened housing affordability and education costs, and for older Australians, this means many "quite rightly" will have to pay higher co-contributions for aged care, Mr Fitzgerald said.
This highlights the shared interests across ages and shows how addressing ageism will help everyone, Dr Krasovitsky said while calling on the government to establish Ageism Awareness Day.
"Today's younger people are tomorrow's older people ... our futures are intertwined," she told the press club.
"We're not about cementing the privileges of old people at the expense of younger people ... we cannot continue to define each other by age then pit ourselves against each other.
"Intergenerational solidarity brings great benefits."
The government's proposed aged care reforms will help address some aspects of ageism, but Mr Fitzgerald maintains they would have been stronger if they included enforceable rights for older Australians.
There are three main types of ageism, according to the Council of the Ageing.
Internalised ageism occurs when older people limit themselves based on their perceptions of age.
Benevolent ageism - seen in aged care or health services - happens when those who try to help inadvertently remove people's agency.
Systemic ageism is particularly evident in areas such as employment, where one in six organisations will not consider hiring people 65 or older, and banking, where older people often struggle to get loans.
Australian Association of Gerontology policy manager Amber Mills has called on governments to provide adequate protections for older people around issues such as financial abuse.
"Ageism is dangerous because it's at the heart of bigger issues," she told AAP.
The number of Australians aged 65 or older will double in the next four decades while the number aged 80 or older is forecast to triple.
