Older women have two barriers to overcome: their sex and their age. Where do the over-45s looking for work go? There are a handful of recruitment companies that specialise in older workers, the two most prominent being adage.com.au and olderworkers.com.au. There is a range of jobs available on both sites, but they are age, not gender-specific.

"I would say the first battle is ageism," says Heidi Holmes, managing director of adage.com.au.

"If you've been out of the workplace caring for dependents and you're in your 40s, it's much harder to come back."

So where do you go? The federal government's Workplace Gender Equality Agency lists examples of larger corporate employers that positively discriminate, that is, that select job candidates based on factors such as age and gender. Also worth checking is the Department of Employment's list of "corporate champions", which detail companies that proactively seek out older workers.

Who are the worst culprits when it comes to ignoring older female workers? Dr Tim Adair, director of the National Seniors Australia Productive Ageing Centre, says the public service, finance and insurance sectors are the worst.

"It may be that in the public service older workers have super schemes, which may make it more attractive to retire at earlier age," Adair says. "But for financial services in general, they tend, stereotypically, to have a younger workforce."

The best? The healthcare and social assistance industries are way ahead, he says.

Older people generally prefer flexible working arrangements, and one company that adopts this rule is packing agency The Finishing Touch, which employs mainly mature-aged ladies to pack and unpack homes for those moving house.

Chief executive Steve Hitchings says that of its 190 staff nationally, the average age is 58. Dozens of employees are older than 60 and more than 10 staff are aged 70 plus. This workforce of "empty nesters" has perfect credentials for a business that relies on a high degree of homemaking knowledge.

"Older workers need flexibility to work when they want to, in small teams, picking and choosing assignments offered to them," Hitchings says.

"Their expertise of being skilled homemakers, ability to multitask and work under pressure, make them ideally suited to our work when people are moving house."

Are older people interested in smaller tasks? The highly visited, entry-level job board SpotJobs.com says within its database of more than 650,000 registered users the average age is 26. Only 3 per cent of its job hunters are over 50 and yet 60 per cent of its workers are female. According to its data, female participation drops off steeply after the age of 30 and is almost negligible by 40. The low-medium-skilled jobs arena is decidedly a young one.

While it may be stereotypical, if knowledge of homemaking is an advantage for older women, then businesses that require these skills are a logical avenue. Lavender Hill Interiors, an online business that specialises in classic European homewares and furniture, has just employed 45-year-old Sue Draper as its warehouse/showroom manager. Draper had 17 years of experience in a similar role at Sainsbury's in the UK, which made hiring her a no-brainer, says co-principal Mary McManus.

"We're not anti-youth, but realised early that as we grew we'd need to be actively looking for older women," McManus says. "They'll not only have empathy with our style of customers, but the experience to know what does and doesn't work in a home context."

Very few name-brand businesses have both age and women-friendly status. Bunnings Warehouse is the big exception, often cited by experts as an exception to the rule. This may also be because it favours those with home and hardware-related experience.

Holmes from adage.com.au nominates Dial-an-Angel, the nationwide help agency that sends out helpers, carers, nannies, babysitters and companions where needed in the community, as another example of a business that hires older women. Chief executive Danielle Robertson says 60 per cent of its workers are over 45 and about 85 per cent are women. One 86-year-old woman on her books looks after an 89-year-old.

"Age doesn't mean anything if you're physically well and have the right mental attitude to work," Robertson says.

Like Hitchings from The Finishing Touch, Robertson says flexibility is a must: "They want the freedom, which we offer. We have 7500 registered 'angels' around Australia, but there may only be about 1500 active on any one day."

Hitchings says the government's Restart program, which offers employers $10,000 over two years for hiring anyone over 55, misses the point. It only applies to those on some form of income and/or disability support. He advocates another kind of incentive: "What about an amnesty on payroll tax charged by state governments on all workers aged 55, or 60 even?"

SMH