Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

INTERNET AND COMPUTER USE BY OLDER PERSONS

The statistics presented in this section were collected in the 2003 and 2009 Surveys of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) and relate to persons aged 60 years and over (referred to as older persons) who live in private dwellings in Australia.

These data have previously been released in Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings (cat. no. 4430.0).


INTERNET USE BY OLDER PERSONS
 
In 2009, just over half of older persons (54%) reported they had access to the internet at home, up from 29% in 2003.

The proportion of older persons who used the internet at any location within the previous 12 months almost doubled from 2003 (21%), rising to 41% in 2009.

Activities performed on the internet
 
Older persons who used the internet in the previous 12 months were asked to indicate the activities they performed on the internet and where they had used it. In 2009, General browsing and Use email/access chat sites were the two most common activities undertaken by older persons on the internet, at 86% and 82% respectively.
 
Just over two in five older persons reported Accessing government services (46%) or Purchasing/ordering goods/services (41%) for private purposes on the internet.

Government services accessed on the internet

Older persons who had accessed a government service on the internet for private purposes were asked to identify the services used. Almost two thirds (65%) of older persons Paid bills electronically. This was more than twice the proportion of any other service used, the next most common service being the electronic lodgement of Tax returns (24%).

Location of internet use
 
In 2009, the majority of older persons who used the internet did so at Home (92%). Less than three in ten older persons used the internet at Work/business (27%).

 Purpose for internet access at home
 
Almost all older persons (97%) who used the internet at home in 2009, did so for a Private/personal purpose. The next most common purpose for internet use at home was Work/business (30%).


COMPUTER USE BY OLDER PERSONS
 
More than three in five older persons (62%) reported having access to a computer at home in 2009, up from 40% in 2003.

In 2009, nearly half (47%) of older persons used a computer at any location in the previous 12 months, compared to less than one in three (29%) in 2003.

Location of computer use
 
Home was the most commonly reported location of computer use (93%) by older persons who used a computer in the previous 12 months. The next most common location for computer use was Work/business (27%).

 

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