Most of what I've seen of people in that age group are using it as an early retirement scheme. I saw a lot of discussion in one of the groups I was in with that cohort actively choosing to leave jobs so they could retire with a combination of welfare payments and using a portion of their Super.

Age/gender discrimination is definitely a problem, but allowing a couple of days of volunteer work instead of having to look for work (and a payment that is higher than younger unemployed people receive) seems a reasonable compromise to bridge the gap until aged pension age.