Internet Access for the Elderly

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:36): Many older senior residents of Ashford/Badcoe do correspond—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.W. KEY: —with friends and family.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Stop the clock. Sit down. The members for Chaffey and the minister can leave the chamber now and continue their discussion outside, except you are the only minister here, so stand there and do it. The member for Ashford is entitled to be heard in silence. Member for Ashford.

The Hon. S.W. KEY: Many older senior members of Ashford/Badcoe correspond with friends and family by Facebook, email and Skype, but certainly equal numbers of constituents do not use the internet to lodge claims or seek assistance.

I was talking to members of the local bowling club recently, and they pointed out to me that, although they quite often use the internet, particularly iPads and personal computers, they have a problem filling out forms, surveys or seeking information, particularly when the allotted time runs out and the whole thing runs down. The rumour—and I hope that it is a rumour—is that the federal government has made a decision that all forms, applications and grants will be done online and that they will not entertain any of those things being done by old-fashioned letters. If people do not have access to any of those technologies, they will be in big trouble.

Obviously, right at the moment, as the member for Fisher rightly pointed out, we are in the middle of a campaign on marriage equity, certainly one that I support. Under the same circumstances that she mentioned, it is a bit of a shame that we cannot just get the federal government to get on and amend the Marriage Act, but we are stuck with what we are stuck with and let's hope that the survey supports that reform.

I was interested to read in the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that 86 per cent of Australian households have access to the internet. Those who do not have access to the internet are increasingly being left behind as more and more people are dependent on having some sort of digital technology connection. Interestingly, in South Australia the rate of home internet access is lower than the national average, at only 82 per cent, and a number of older and Indigenous Australians and low-income recipients and people living in remote areas are disproportionately represented by those statistics.

On the face of it, perhaps not being able to participate in online campaigns because you do not have access to the internet or a mobile phone is not such a burden, but I think it is a symptom of inequality, and people who do not have access to digital technology will be increasingly isolated and alienated from the world of communications that most of us take for granted. I would argue that this inequality is getting worse. More and more private organisations and government departments that deliver services and information that many South Australians rely on for everyday living expect their customers or clients to be able to access digital technology.

Whether it is to pay a phone bill or to advise Centrelink of changes of circumstances, claiming for Medicare or from private health funds, reading school newsletters, doing our banking, paying for car registration, buying tickets to events (and there is a whole story that goes with that, particularly with the most recent grand final), enrolling in university and TAFE courses, reading the latest news or finding the manual instructions for a new appliance, there is an expectation that most of these everyday activities will be done online.

Of great concern to me is the number of South Australians who cannot afford the technology but who need to do all these things. Not everybody wants to go to the library or in fact have the skills even if they do get to the fabulous local library to do their work. Judging from some of the people who come through the Ashford electorate office, this is going to be a really big concern in the future. Other members in this house would understand the number of people who come through with trouble interpreting their power bills.

Also, with many bills we now receive, certainly with a telephone bill, you pay an extra fee to receive the paper bill, so there is already an inequity built into how we receive that information, albeit bills.

Time expired.