Australia’s unemployment just hit a four-year high of 4.5%. But competition is crushing job seekers more than numbers suggest. Reckon reveals the real barriers keeping Australians locked out of work.
What’s happening: Australia’s unemployment rate has climbed to 4.5% in September, marking a four-year high, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Yet behind the headline sits a more complex reality.
Why this matters: The barriers to employment are increasingly misaligned with job availability. Half of working-age Australians cite issues beyond personal qualifications, unsuitable hours, no vacancies in their field, health challenges, and age bias, preventing them from finding sustainable work, even when jobs exist.
The headline reads sobering: Australia’s unemployment rate has jumped to 4.5% in September, the highest in four years. But the true employment crisis runs far deeper than any single figure can capture.
A detailed analysis by Reckon of the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data reveals that whilst competition for roles matters, it is only part of the problem. Across every demographic and industry, Australians confront a maze of obstacles that have nothing to do with their willingness or capability to work.
Around one in seven (15%) job seekers report that too many applicants are chasing too few available roles, making it feel impossible to stand out. Another 11.4% point to insufficient work experience as their primary barrier. But the findings go beyond these headline figures. One in ten (10%) are held back by ill health or disability, whilst 9.4% struggle because no jobs offer suitable hours and another 9.4% cannot find vacancies in their chosen field.
Alex Alexandrou, General Manager at Reckon, describes the moment as one demanding systemic change. “There is a huge opportunity for businesses to open up more genuine entry points into the workforce. That means apprenticeships, structured internships and hiring practices that focus on skills and providing guidance instead of long CVs. For older Australians, the focus has to be on tackling age bias and building more flexible, supportive pathways that allow experience to shine.”
The numbers that shock
The data reveals a labour market under structural strain. Business failure rates are running 15.1 per cent above the 10-year average, signalling that the financial pressure affecting workers is spreading to their employers. Food and beverage, administrative support and transport sectors are most at risk.
For young Australians, the entry barrier is punishing. A full 20% of those aged 15 to 24 cite insufficient work experience as their biggest obstacle. One in seven (13.4%) report that too many applicants are fighting for too few roles. These young people are caught in a bind: to gain experience, they must find entry-level work, yet employers increasingly demand years of prior experience even for junior positions.
For older workers, the picture darkens sharply. Among those aged 55 to 64, being considered too old by employers is the barrier for 20.8%, whilst 19.8% are held back by ill health or disability. For those over 65 seeking work, age discrimination becomes overwhelming: 43.9% report being considered too old by potential employers, whilst a further 26.7% face ill health or disability constraints.
When competition crushes opportunity
The job search landscape has shifted in ways that create friction at multiple points. Reckon’s findings show that for the 35 to 44 age group, family considerations begin to matter more, with 8.4% citing this as their main barrier. Yet competition for roles remains the largest single obstacle across this cohort, at 16.8%.
For those aged 45 to 54, the picture changes markedly. A lack of vacancies in their line of work becomes the dominant barrier, cited by 14.6%. This points to a labour market increasingly stratified by sector and skill. Workers cannot simply move to find roles; entire occupations or industries may face contraction in their region or entirely.
The ripple effects extend through businesses themselves. When job seekers cannot find suitable work, consumer spending stalls. When employers face tight margins and rising defaults, they pull back on hiring and investment. The cycle becomes self-reinforcing.
The age factor: from inexperience to discrimination
The contrast between younger and older workers reveals two separate employment crises, not one. Younger Australians struggle against a wall of entry barriers: 8.5% lack necessary skills or education and a fifth lack any work experience whatsoever. The labour market offers few genuine apprenticeships or structured entry points; instead, many junior positions still demand years of prior experience.
For workers in their peak earning years, the barriers are structural: no suitable hours (11.2% for those 35 to 44), family responsibilities (8.4%), and, increasingly, age concerns.
The shift becomes stark after age 45. Age discrimination emerges as a major barrier; 6.5% of those aged 45 to 54 report being considered too old by employers. By 55 to 64, this rises to 20.8%. And for those aged 65 and over, it becomes the dominant barrier by a margin, affecting 43.9% of those seeking work.
Alexandrou emphasises the cost of this exclusion. “With retirement ages creeping higher, we can’t afford to sideline people who still have plenty to offer. If we can get better at supporting both early careers and later careers, we’ll build a stronger, fairer workforce that makes the most of every generation.”
A generational divide widening
The data paints a portrait of an employment system that serves neither the young nor the old well. Young people accumulate debt and delay major life decisions whilst hunting for their first opportunity. Older workers, facing health challenges and age bias, exit the workforce when economic participation could sustain them.
In the middle are working parents juggling care responsibilities with career ambitions, often forced into part-time roles or hours that don’t fit their financial needs.
The September rise in unemployment to 4.5% reflects this fragmentation. Employment growth has slowed sharply in 2025, with just 116,000 people added to the workforce in the first nine months, compared to 323,000 over the same period in 2024. The supply of jobs has not kept pace with demand.
Yet the real issue is not simply a shortage of jobs. It is the mismatch between available work and the needs of job seekers. Some roles exist, but not in the right locations, at the right hours, or for the right qualifications. Others exist but are flooded with applications. Still others are open only to workers without health constraints or family responsibilities.
What comes next
For Australians currently seeking work, the message is clear: unemployment is not the whole story. Barriers are structural, generational and deeply embedded in how businesses hire. Change requires action across multiple fronts.
Businesses can invest in genuine apprenticeships and structured internships rather than relying on lengthy CVs. Lenders and policymakers can support small firms struggling under cost pressures. And employers, particularly those in sectors where experience gaps are cited as barriers, can rethink hiring to focus on trainable skills and potential rather than years on a resume.
For older workers, the path forward requires tackling age bias directly: through legislation, through recruitment practice reform, and through flexible arrangements that recognise the value of experience.
The employment system in Australia is not broken. But it is misaligned with the realities of modern working life. Fixing it begins with understanding where the real barriers lie.
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