WHY NAN AND GRAMPS ARE OFFLINE

Australia needs a national strategy to overcome the fears and uncertainty of older Australians about going online, if broadband is to deliver its full value to the nation.

Dr Sandra Haukka, a Senior Research Fellow in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI), Queensland University of Technology, says that despite the Australian Government’s $43 billion national broadband network and $15 million Broadband for Seniors initiative, they need to do more to encourage older Australians to use the internet.

The CCI Report, The Internet in Australia, has found that 98% of young people aged 18 – 24 use the internet, compared with only 40% of people aged 64 and over.

The auDA Foundation and National Seniors Australia are supporting a new CCI study, Linking Older Australians to online products and services that can improve their daily lives. The study is exploring what older Australians who do not use the Internet know about what it offers, and identifying ways to encourage them to access online products and services that they believe can improve their daily lives.

“People assume that older Australians are not interested in the internet because they don’t know what it can do – but that’s not true,” says Dr Haukka. “Our research shows that they are very much aware of the benefits and many would like to use it if their concerns were addressed.”

“Well over one half of the 154 older Australians who participated in the study wanted to learn how to use the internet but faced a range of barriers preventing them from doing so.

“Survey participants came from all over Australia, were aged from 50 years to 75 years and older, and most were enjoying the benefits of retirement. The study found that the type of work they used to do and their level of qualifications had little to do with whether or not they used the internet.”

The main fears about internet use among older Australians were: lack of skills, concerns about security and viruses, lack of support, high costs, and not wanting to burden their friends or family by asking for help or advice.

Some older Australians were also confused about the technology. Participants in the study spoke about their fear of “breaking the computer”, lack of knowledge of internet fees, and not knowing what computer to buy.

“This insecurity is surprising given that many participants are high achievers in other aspects of their lives, have the transferable skills needed to use the internet, and are living independently,” says Dr Haukka.

Dr Haukka also found that, despite the Government’s efforts to address these issues, many older Australians were unaware of the available support and services provided to help them get online.

“The $15 million Broadband for Seniors project is setting up 2,000 free internet kiosks in community centres, retirement villages and clubs for seniors across Australia,” says Dr Haukka.

“Although the Government is committed to information and awareness campaigns, our study found 70 per cent of survey participants have not heard of the kiosks and 64 per cent have not heard of computer clubs for seniors.”

Most of Dr Haukka’s survey participants who had undertaken internet training claimed that these classes were “ineffective”, “highly ineffective” or “neutral”. They said that the pace was too fast, the classes were not pitched at the right level, and that differences in computer knowledge among classmates made it impossible to have effective group instruction.

“Seniors have different needs and reasons for using the internet – one will use the internet to search for recipes but the person next to her wants to check his superannuation online. You can’t lump them together and assume that they all want to get on Youtube or Facebook.”

Survey participants were particularly interested in using the internet for general searching, communicating with friends and family, making bookings, looking up timetables, making cheap phone calls, and researching health topics.

They were less interested in using the internet to access their medical and other records (e.g. Centrelink, bank accounts, investment funds), using social networking sites, and managing their finances e.g. banking, paying bills and investing online.

“This shows that we should focus on promoting services better with a different approach,” says Dr Haukka. “As an example, although there are classes to help older people get online, we have to be aware that some have difficulty even travelling to attend them.”

Dr Haukka’s initial recommendations include expanding the availability of one-on-one training, a focus on the needs of individual users, strategies that address the barriers experienced by older Australians who are interested in using the internet, and support to help older Australians to buy, install and maintain the technology that best suits their needs and to select the right plan from internet service providers.

CCI will release the study’s final report in October 2010.

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) is helping to build a creative Australia through cutting edge research spanning the creative industries, media and communications, arts, cultural studies, law, information technology, education and business. It is funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC).

More information:
Dr Sandra Haukka, ph 07 3138 0151 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              07 3138 0151      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or 0424 415 376, s.haukka@qut.edu.au
Professor Stuart Cunningham, Director CCI, ph 0407 195 304, s.cunningham@qut.edu.au
Rebekah McClure, Manager CCI, ph +61 7 3138 3889
Mandy Thoo, CCI Media, ph 0402 544 391

http://www.cci.edu.au