In 2018:
Most Australians use the Internet for everyday activities such as communicating with friends and family, shopping, entertainment and education. In 2016-17, the Household Use of Information Technology survey showed that:
In 2018, there were 3.8 million Australians with disability aged 15 years and over living in households. Among these:
The most common reasons for those with disability not using the Internet were:
Whether a person used the Internet varied depending on their type of disability. In 2018, the Internet was used by:
In contrast, 71.2% of those with psychosocial disability used the Internet.
While the type of disability a person has may affect their use of the Internet, age is also likely to be a contributing factor, particularly considering the differing age profiles across disability groups. In 2018, the median age of people with disability (living in households) varied by disability group:
Lack of interest was the most common reason for not using the Internet regardless of disability group. A lack of confidence/knowledge was also common, particularly among those with disabilities that affect cognitive ability. Among people with disability who had not used the Internet:
Among the 3.7 million older Australians in 2018 (living in households):
Internet use decreased with age. The proportion of people using the Internet in the previous 3 months by age group were:
The most common reasons older Australians did not use the internet were:
Primary carer - refers to a person aged 15 years and over who provides the most informal assistance to a person with disability with one or more of the core activities of mobility, self-care and communication.
There were 861,600 primary carers in 2018. Of these:
The most common reasons primary carers didn’t use the internet were:
Many Australians aged 15 years and over with disability use technology to communicate with family and friends living outside their household (i.e. non-resident family and friends). Use of technology to stay connected varied according to the type of disability a person had.
In 2018, of the 3.8 million Australians aged 15 years and over with disability (living in households), 61.9% used SMS/text message to contact non-resident family and friends in the previous 3 months.
Use of SMS/text message to contact non-resident family and friends was most common among those with a physical restriction (59.7%) or a psychosocial disability (56.8%). This is in contrast to:
Around two in five (42.3%) people with disability used social networking or chat rooms to contact non-resident family and friends. The following disability groups were less likely to use social networking or chat rooms:
Two in five (39.8%) people with disability used email to contact non-resident family and friends, though people with an intellectual disability were considerably less likely to (20.1%). Other disability groups reporting low use of email contact with family and friends included those with:
Many older Australians (living in households) use technology to communicate with non-resident family and friends, though use typically decreases with age.
Just over half (54.2% or 2.0 million people) of older Australians used SMS/text message to contact non-resident family and friends in the previous 3 months. The proportion of people using SMS/text messages decreased with age:
Just over one-quarter (27.1% or 1.0 million people) of older people used social networking or chat rooms to contact non-resident family and friends. As with SMS/text message contact, the use of social networking or chat rooms decreased with age:
Almost half (45.2% or 1.7 million people) of older Australians used email to contact non-resident family and friends. While use of email declined with age, it was the most common form of online contact for those aged 85 years and over (19.2%). Among other age groups:
In 2018, many of the 861,600 primary carers used technology to contact family and friends in the previous 3 months: