The survey, conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission and released on Thursday, is the first to examine age discrimination on a national level.

It shows that about a third of people who experienced age discrimination gave up looking for work as a result. Almost half began to think about retirement or accessing their superannuation.

Some 80 per cent of respondents spoke of negative impacts.

Speaking of her concerns about the results, Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan said: "The high prevalence of age discrimination in the workplace has obvious and lasting impacts on the health and personal financial security of those trying to get or keep jobs".

The survey comes after Ms Ryan launched a national inquiry into workplace discrimination against older workers and people with disability last week.

At the time, she said employment rates for both groups were "unacceptably low", noting that there was a "deep cultural prejudice" against older people.

Older Australians make up about a quarter of the population, but only 16 per cent of the workforce.

"We've had this demographic revolution. We're living a generation longer than our forbears did and yet the workplace environment hasn't changed," Ms Ryan said.

The survey comes amid a federal government push to keep Australians working longer and a bid to make the pension system more sustainable. The intergenerational report found the number of Australians over 65 was projected to more than double by 2055.

Modelling by Deloitte Access Economics for the Commission shows that a 3 per cent increase in workforce participation for workers over 55 – beyond an already expected 2.7 per cent by 2024-25 – would contribute an extra $33 billion to Australia's GDP.

Treasurer Joe Hockey will launch the survey report on Thursday morning in Sydney.

With Dan Harrison

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