Human Rights and Equal Opportunity consultation on:

The Office of Seniors Interests has followed the progress of this consultation with some interest and wishes to acknowledge the importance of the work being undertaken by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) in bringing together information and comment relating to this issue. The final report of the Commission is keenly awaited.

Much of the comment that has been made by other agencies and individuals is endorsed as being consistent with this Office's views and experience.

The volume of relevant material being contributed and linked with this consultation and the Office's own work in this area has prompted the comments that follow. By design, the comments made are general in nature and focus on the provision of training facilities.

The Office of Seniors Interests is a small Western Australian government agency charged with enhancing the lifestyles of Western Australian seniors by promoting positive ageing and encouraging the community to plan for its ageing population. Information about the Office can be found at http://www.osi.wa.gov.au.

Since the mid 1990s the Office has been working to engage seniors in familiarisation and training in 'technology' that is likely to impact on their everyday lives and to have seniors' needs acknowledged in the development of electronic and online systems etc being offered by other government agencies and the private sector.

Commitments made in the Government's Five Year Plan 1999 - 2003 included developing a 'SeniorsNet' pilot to train seniors in using the internet, incorporating seniors needs in the development of 'smartcard' technology and targeting training for older people to focus on new technologies and 'returning to learning'. Additional information on the SeniorsNet pilot can be found at http://www.peel.wa.gov.au

The private sector phase of the Five Year Plan is due for release later in 2000 and is anticipated to include 'technology' customer service initiatives.

More recently the Office has piloted New Technology Seminars through the Mandurah City Senior Citizens Centre and the Hopetoun, Quairading and Wongan Hills Telecentres. Additional information on WA Telecentres can be found at http://telecentres.wa.gov.au

The evaluation of the Seminars highlights the flexibility with which the participating seniors and tutors have approached the course content, delivery methods and course structure. The groups reported high levels of satisfaction with the program, each of which was shaped according to local resources and the participant's needs and interests.

As part of the celebrations for the International Year of Older Persons (IYOP), the Western Australian government made available a series of small grants to community organisations under the theme of A Western Australia for All Ages. A number of applications focussed on providing computer/internet training for seniors. Of note is the development of the CyberSeniors web site designed to assist seniors new to the internet. This web site can be located at http://www.netfx.com.au/cyberseniors

The issue of seniors being marginalised from mainstream society due to a lack of technology skills has also been addressed by the Technology for Seniors Working Group which is in the process of finalising its report to the Seniors Ministerial Advisory Committee and the Minister for Seniors.

In particular the Working Group has been concerned about the real possibility of seniors, especially those in older age groups and those from non-English speaking backgrounds, becoming the 'new illiterate'.

The Working Group has also spent considerable time exploring the telecentre model currently being developed in regional Western Australia as to its potential for adaptation to metropolitan and urban regional centres.

It is with some concern that the Office of Seniors Interests notes the plethora of initiatives being trialed throughout Australia to address the 'technology' training needs of seniors. Whilst these initiatives are no doubt providing valuable information for the purposes of consultations such as this, as yet there appears to be no single consistent readily recognizable facility or program that seniors can acknowledge as addressing their needs.

Providing different options and choice is to be encouraged but it would seem preferable to provide this choice under one broad recognizable banner which could accommodate all persons, including seniors, needing training or access at the community level. This Office actively promotes the concept of concept of 'universal design' as mentioned in at least one other submission, where products and environments are designed for people of all ages and abilities without the need for adaptation.

It is important to develop policies and practices for accessing technology that directly impact on socially and regionally isolated seniors. Social isolation is a major cause of depression among seniors and also effects the types of personal and home care services that seniors receive. Mentoring, friendships and partnerships could be provided by individuals and service providers via the net as one way of achieving a society that is able to build connections as well as access services and products.

In general, this Office does not see a case for separate training facilities for seniors except where other sectors of the community are already well catered for and where a venue such as a seniors centre had sufficient membership to make this appropriate. Retirement villages and other forms of seniors accommodation are examples where an on-site facility would be the preferred option. This is especially so in cases of residential care facilities where illness or disability may make accessing community facilities inappropriate.

This is not to deny the value of running courses or allocating time slots only for seniors in facilities, such as telecentres, where all age groups are welcome and a community or social element develops alongside the exploration of new software packages, online services etc. Such centres would include facilities to cater for people with disabilities and from culturally and linguistically diverse groups and in this way would cater for a wider group of clients with special needs. Similarly, persons on low incomes, including seniors in receipt of the Age Pension could access training and use a wide variety of information and communication technology as required without each individual having to bear the cost. Existing community facilities which may be considered to be appropriate for the addition of such capability would be public libraries and community centres or in regional areas co-located with local government offices, tourist bureaus etc.

In regional areas banking and Centrelink information services are already being provided through telecentres suggesting facilities of this type can be very multipurpose and even provide a focus for community development.

This type of multipurpose arrangement should be a priority. This network of community facilities, located near or incorporated into existing community facilities, would encourage an attitude and expectation that using information and communication technology and services and familiarising oneself with additional applications is a normal everyday activity, facilitated by easy physical access to buildings, to hardware and to training support.

In the short term, until community facilities of the type described above can be established, there is a role for the mobile/transient computer training facility which caters for the senior population. Already there are organisations capable of setting up training facilities in venues which have sufficient power points, which are then removed when the demand has been satisfied. It is known that at least one provider of computer/internet training operating in Western Australia offers this service and seniors can purchase the computer terminal, with software, that they used in training to take home inclusive with telephone support.

Designing electronic and online services to be more friendly is important for all users, but particularly so for seniors, who have little or no previous knowledge of these technologies. As with many other activities, any exploration of new technology resulting in a positive experiences is likely to engender further exploration and repeat visits. For organisations wishing to deliver services using these means the benefits are obvious and should motivate better design as a matter of course. In relation to the New Technology Seminar pilot referred to previously, one of the trainers commented that it was important to acknowledge and respect seniors 'technological backgrounds' and build on this knowledge.

However, without the means to access these interfaces no amount of good design is able to engage people in using these services. The multipurpose, community based facility advocated above is, in this Office's view, the critical element in any strategy to engage seniors in using new technologies, changing the mindset about the 'special' and unfamiliar nature of technology and allowing everyone to benefit from the convenient, low cost options that emerging technologies provide.

I/All/Correspondence 2000/HREOC submission hj.doc