Older people need the internet too

Ageing happens to everyone, so building age friendly procedures and facilities in communities now is an investment for everyone for the future – the internet is no exception.

Access to the internet can vastly improve the quality of life for seniors who find it difficult to leave the house. It has the potential to counter social isolation and play a role in the delivery of community and health services.

In reverse, housebound seniors who are without internet access at home are at risk of becoming more isolated and disadvantaged as services are increasingly provided mainly online.

And let's not forget that this also applies to people who are isolated for a myriad of other reasons, including by disability and geography.

We need to remember that the ability to access, receive and impart information is a human right - Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 states that everyone has the right to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers".

Research in 2011 by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation found the key barriers preventing seniors from using the internet were a lack of skills, confusion by technology, and concerns about security and viruses.

Older people may also be worried by the cost of technology, or may be prevented by deterioration of their sight or fine motor skills.

The first step is to support and encourage older people to go online and the next is to give them the confidence and skills to protect themselves from cybercrime.

To this end, the Australian Government already has its Broadband for Seniors Initiative which provides funding for 2,000 free Internet kiosks in community centres, retirement villages and seniors clubs across Australia. There are also other great initiatives like Nan Bosler's inspirational Australian Seniors Computer Clubs Association.

But the approach needs to be unified and concerted, and extended to cover older Austrlians wherever they live. It needs to be part of the way we do business. It needs to be part of our culture. It should be delivered in ways that respect difference and diversity - that is it should avoid stereotypes and be inclusive.

Australian Human Rights Commission research shows that older people are vastly underrepresented in advertising and the media. While 14.2% of the population are aged 65 years or over, they only feature in 4.7% of advertising and 6.6% of editorial media content.

Many of the representations of older people reflect only the negatives of ageing, such as ill-health, isolation, slowness and ignorance of technology - stereotypes far from the whole truth that ignore the majority of older Australians who are healthy, active and big contributors to their communities and their families.