More than 80 percent of older Australians use technology, but are concerned about the security of their personal information.
New research by not-for-profit aged care provider Benetas shows technology use among senior Australians was widespread.
Benetas General Manager of Customer, Insights and Marketing Elyssia Clark said while the research debunked the public perception that the elderly did not engage with technology, it found 80 percent of Australians aged over 65 were concerned about the security of their personal information when using online services.
Ms Clark said 17 percent of the more than 1000 Australians surveyed for the report said they had been the victim of an online, email or text message scam where they lost money.
She said the research found eight in 10 older Australians described technology as important in helping them keep in touch with family and friends.
“Using videos calls (48 percent) to make or receive calls has overtaken the use of landlines (45 percent), but mobile phones are well in front at 94 percent,” Ms Clark said.
She said emails (98 percent) and texts (93 percent) were used by virtually everyone as well.
Ms Clark said 76 percent of women and 62 percent of men surveyed were on social media, with one in two older Australians using it every day.
“More generally, 85 percent enjoy using the internet, but only 10 percent are very confident in their ability to stay safe online.
“In fact, 34 percent of older Australians had never booked a holiday or restaurant online, and 19 percent had never shopped online.”
Ms Clark technology was very much part of older Australians’ lives and more than half (55 percent) said they would like to improve their knowledge further so they can do more things online.”
Explore The Benetas Digital Inclusion & Cyber Safety Among Australian Seniors Research Study.
