Mr. David Mason,
Secretary,
E-commerce Reference,
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
GPO Box 5218,
SYDNEY NSW 2001

Dear David,

Please find attached a brief submission on the accessibility of electronic commerce and other new service delivery technologies for older Australians and people with a disability from the Australian Seniors Computer Clubs Association Inc.

Should you require additional information about our Association please refer to our website www.interweb.com.au/snug

Yours faithfully,
 
 

Nan Bosler
(Mrs.) N.D. Bosler,
President,
Australian Seniors Computer Clubs Association Inc.

The Association will advise and support; liaise with the three spheres of Government and other organisations on behalf of the membership, organise seminars and like activities and seek out advantages for members. Most importantly, ASCCA, does not have the power to interfere in the running of the individual clubs.

ASCCA is organised and run by seniors on an entirely voluntary basis. It has successfully sought small grants for specific projects but as yet is an unfunded organisation striving to help seniors explore the benefits and satisfaction of using computer technology.

The objectives of ASCCA are:

• to ENCOURAGE seniors and people with disabilities to explore the advantages and satisfaction of using computer technology
• to EMPOWER seniors and people with disabilities by providing learning opportunities
• to EXPAND communications opportunities
• to ENCOURAGE options to enable seniors and people with disabilities to enhance their lifestyle
• to ASSIST seniors and people with disabilities in the development of skills to enhance participation in community activities
• to BRIDGE THE GAP between the generations through the use of computer technology
• to INCREASE self esteem and independence

BACKGROUND:

Computer Clubs for Seniors have developed mainly during this last decade. The prime objectives of our clubs is to teach seniors to use and enjoy computer technology. Each club has a number of members who act as tutors or trainers. The important difference in this learning style is that most older people prefer to be taught by people of a similar age, they want to learn specific things and not undertake a course of information that may or may not be of use to them. Most of all they want to learn at their own pace.

Seniors can be hesitant to attempt to use computer technology, they can be plagued by negative thoughts - will I be able to do it - could I make a fool of myself. Computer Clubs for Seniors provide an excellent solution - they provide a friendly and non threatening environment. The new member gains confidence in using a computer and in using the programmes on the club's computers. The club can even help them to select a computer that meets their needs and is within their price range.

Existing Clubs were invited to attend a meeting held on 1 May 1998 to discuss the advantages of forming an umbrella organisation to link computer clubs for seniors. At this meeting it was resolved that:

1. an umbrella organisation be established
2. a steering committee be formed
3. a seminar be held during 1999. The Seminar would be the Associations major activity to mark 1999 as the International Year of Older Persons, and that
4. the website, www.interweb.com.au/snug be developed and maintained.

The committee completed its assigned tasks quickly and a general meeting of interested clubs and organisations was held on 7 August 1998 in the boardroom of the Council on the Ageing, Sydney.

The meeting resolved that the association be known as The Australian Seniors Computer Clubs Association Inc. (ASCCA) and an executive was elected. The foundation executive of ASCCA was as follows:

Nan Bosler - President,
Colin Ward - vice President,
George Kimpton - vice President,
Keith Hinchcliffe - Secretary & Public Officer
Bill van der Meyden - Treasurer
John Notary - Committee Member,
Bernice Shannon - Committee Member,
George Thompson - Committee Member,
Gil Walquist - Committee Member

ASCCA became an Incorporated Association on 14 August 1998.

Membership of ASCCA is open to all Computer clubs for Seniors, Organisations with a membership of seniors, and Organisations that recognise the value of computer technology for seniors. Cost of Membership is $100 per year.

The Association will advise and support; liaise with the three spheres of Government and other organisations on behalf of the membership, organise seminars and like activities and seek out advantages for members (for advantages read discounts.) Most importantly, ASCCA, does not have the power to interfere in the running of the individual clubs.

The Australian Seniors Computer Clubs Association Inc, (ASCCA) is a non-profit organisation linking Computer Clubs for Seniors. It provides a channel for communication between like-minded people, who want to share in the potential of the computer age to serve their individual and community goals.

But what have ASCCA achieved during this vital formative year and a bit?

There have been three major initiatives. New Clubs Development, the 2^nd Australian Computer Seminar for Seniors, and, the ongoing promotion of the value of computer technology for seniors.

ASCCA is receiving enquiries from people living in many parts of the State seeking computer clubs in their own areas. A New Clubs Development Policy was approved on 4 December 1999 and a New Clubs Development sub-committee formed to address this great need.

When someone is keen to try and help form a new club we have been providing them with as much assistance as possible. Often we suggest that they should contact the Community Services section of their local Council for advice about a venue and other general support.

We are very aware that this section of Council is always very busy and have produced a Development Kit as a resource and useful tool be used by Council Staff to encourage the development of Computer Clubs for Seniors within their local government area. It may be as an incorporated community group or as a group within an organisation such as a Senior Citizens Centre, a Probus Club, the U3A, or as an activity in a Retirement Village.

The Kit concentrates on establishing an incorporated community group but there is additional information available if a group or activity within another organisation is the preferred format. We also provide a copy of the kit to individuals or groups who want to see a computer club for seniors established in their area and are prepared to act as the driving force to see the establishment of such a club. ASCCA, of course, is anxious to provide as such support and encouragement as possible. One, or sometimes two members of the New Clubs Development sub-committee, will help with the initial public meeting for a new club and attend as guest speaker to enthuse potential new members and explain the advantages of forming a club in their area. We received a Seniors Week '99 Grant of $1800 to enable us to print and distribute the Kit to every Local Government Area in New South Wales during March 1999. Many Councils have written to commend the Kit.

The kit has been most successful and as a result many new clubs have been established or are in the process of planning their first meeting. With the encouragement of Online Australia the kit was launched electronically on Seniors Online Day, on www.onlineseniors.net.au and on ASCCA's website (www.interweb.com.au/snug). The kit can be downloaded in full from both of those sites, or you can click on the contents to view the kit onscreen and then print out any sections that you want. The kit covers all that you need to know to start a computer club for seniors, or actually any other type of community group.

There are currently 22 financial member clubs/organisations. Some 17 other clubs are being developed. ASCCA provides support and encouragement to any group seeking to form a computer club for seniors without the need for that group to become a member of ASCCA. It follows that several clubs that ASCCA has helped to form have as yet not chosen to join the association.

One new club that we are helping to get started will be located in Macksville and hosted by Nyambagha Girrwaa Community Service Centre Inc. It will be for Aboriginal elders living in the Nambucca Valley who are keen to learn how to use computers to enable them to write their family stories. We have been working with them to not only start the club but to organise a session with an Aboriginal person who can give them guidance in researching Aboriginal family history and a further series of sessions on Writing. To say nothing of organising tutors to teach them the basics of computer usage. Word is spreading and two other Aboriginal communities also want a computer club for their seniors.

We were very pleased earlier this month to welcome our first Tasmanian group, Linking Tasmanian Seniors. This is a club of some 217 Seniors living in various parts of Tasmania who are linked together by email. They have a fortnightly newsletter delivered via email and each member is linked to a buddy who instructs and troubleshoots, again via email. They also, so I am told, build friendships via email.

A seminar sub committee was formed in September 1998 to organise the 2^nd Australian Computer Seminar for Seniors. It was decided to hold the 1999 seminar at the All Seasons Premier Menzies Hotel in Carrington Street, Sydney on 5 May 1999. It would be ASCCA's major activity for the International Year of Older Persons. The Menzies was chosen because of

• its close proximity to public transport,
• the ambience of the venue,
• access for those with mobility problems
• the co-operation of hotel staff, and
• the flexibility of required numbers and financial arrangements.

Letters seeking sponsorship were sent to almost everyone we could think of! Answers to those letters were a rarity, necessitating follow up letters, phone calls etc. Most of the phone conversations were very positive and supportive but the promised consideration and decisions never eventuated. We were seniors, we were fiddling with technology, we were a nuisance! Still we persevered through Members of Parliament, Ministers, Government Departments, corporate bodies; still we waited for replies; still we hoped for funding!

Then our first break - the National Office for Information Economy (NOIE) would provide a grant of $3000! ASCCA had participated in Online Australia Day in November 1998 and we had indicated that we were keen to participate in further Online Australia activities during 1999 but now we were really part of Online Australia 1999, our seminar had a place on it s programme. Still we delayed printing the brochures, after all we had promised that we would feature the logo of any major sponsors on the brochure and there were still several unresolved submissions. Surely one of them would be successful. One was! A further grant of $2000 from the Ageing and Disability Department lifted a great weight from our collective shoulders.

Interest for the second seminar was far greater than the first but because of the late distribution of brochures the actual applications and fees were slow to come in. Eventually the trickle became a steady stream and just one week before the seminar the minimum number was passed. We had had faith from the very beginning that the seminar was needed and that it would be a success and indeed it was.

The recommendations made after the seminar were as follows:

1. That the seminar be seen as successful and meeting its objectives
2. That the seminar be repeated again next year at the Menzies or a similar venue
3. That consideration be given to holding an additional seminar or workshop in a Club or similarly lower costing venue to enable those with very limited finances to attend.
4. That individual clubs be encouraged to hold hands-on workshops for beginners.
5. That those organising future seminars or workshops consider carefully the comments made in the evaluation of the 2^nd Australian Computer Seminar for Seniors.

Our website has grown quite rapidly and now provides quite a wide range of information to those who access it. The newest section of www.interweb.com.au/snug is for members only. We recently received a Sofcom Pick of the Net award for the site. Last month the site had nearly two and a half thousand visits.

George Kimpton produced our first Newsletter in December 1998 and in August 1999 Wal Anderson took over the role of Editor. The newsletter is now produced monthly and is also published electronically on the members only pages of our website.

ASCCA has been able to establish worthwhile contacts in Government Departments, Corporate Organisations and Educational Bodies through a willingness to participate in workshops, forums, conferences, etc. ASCCA became a partner in Australian Coalition '99 and participated in several activities organised to celebrate The International Year of Older Persons. We have participated in the chat session and mini summit leading up to the series of activities being organised by Ros Foskey, Rural Development Unit, University of New England under the heading of Making The Connections - Bridging the Technology Gap, and will have a delegate at the two day conference later in November. We were also given the opportunity to present a paper at the Aged Care Australia & Australian Association of Gerontology 1999 National Conference.

Seniors Online Day was launched on 7 September by The Hon. Bronwyn Bishop, MP, Minister for Aged Care and Olympic Gold medalist Dawn Fraser (who was patron of Seniors Online Day) at the State Library to encourage and facilitate the use of the Internet by seniors. ASCCA featured prominently in the event which was organised by Online Australia, which is a commonwealth Government initiative.

ASCCA has been able to seek out many discounts and 'advantages' for member clubs such as a competitive premium for public liability insurance, a discount price for participants at the 2^nd Australian Computer Seminar, discounts for selected hardware and software and free copies of Vet Anti-Virus Software and Quicken De Luxe software for installation on computers being used to train club members. Just recently we received a donation from Microsoft (Australia) of a copy of Office 97, Professional Edition, plus an additional license for each of the 17 clubs that chose to participated in the ASCCA submission to the Microsoft Community Initiative programme. We are most grateful to those organisations and individuals who have shown that they recognised the value of seniors as potential customers and made donations for the benefit of our clubs.

The future of ASCCA will depend on the willingness of us all to put considerable effort into the development and growth of our organisation. By the end of the first year of the new millennium we foresee an established secretariat and central office, many new clubs in urban and rural areas of Australia, programmes to attract Aboriginal seniors and seniors from non English speaking backgrounds, a club specifically linking isolated seniors, a 3^rd Australian Seminar for Seniors, the introduction of decentralised seminars or forums organised by ASCCA, and a much stronger presence on the Internet. And that's for starters!

At the moment the majority of ASCCA's work is being done without financial assistance from any sphere of government. In order to open new clubs, members of the new clubs development committee make use of their Seniors Card $1 ticket for metropolitan travel, sometimes use up their personal pensioner rail pass or even 'organise a holiday' in the appropriate location to be available to speak at a public meeting to support the opening of a new club.

ASCCA's TARGET POPULATION

Computer Clubs for Seniors are primarily open to those over the age of 55 years and no longer in full time employment and those with a disability.

It is the Associations aim to help to establish and link computer clubs for seniors throughout Australia. We further aim to develop opportunities for isolated people to enjoy the benefits and satisfaction of using computer technology. We see isolation as encompassing a wide range of people including those isolated by rural distance, those isolated by disability, those isolated by their role as a full time carer, those isolated within a community, those isolated by race or religion and those isolated because they do not have the money to participate in the technology developments of our time.
 

Seniors living in rural areas are realising that they have to depend more and more upon technology for everyday needs. It is with great alarm that communities watch banking facilities withdrawn from their towns and villages. Older people often find it just too hard to travel to the nearest 'big' centre to access banks.

Older people separated from family and friends are using the Internet to maintain close links and are emailing friends and family across the street or around the world to keep in touch and chat. They are also using the Internet to research and study as well as to bank and pay bills. Many seniors with a disability are revelling in new found options opened up for them by computer technology.

Communication is vitally important to us all and computer technology offers a level of communication previously unknown in the world.

By mastering the use of simple computer technology older people are finding their general well being and independence strengthened.

Quotes:

Our Prime Minister, Mr. John Howard, at that same dinner, made a special reference to the impact of new technology on the elderly, saying that electronic transactions could mean a loss of personal contact for this group. He went on to say :

Our task is also to sensitively manage change so that all Australians are brought along, that on-one is left behind.

Australia is an ageing society. In 1911 (the year of Australia's first census) 4% of people were aged 65 years and over. By 1996, this figure had risen to 12% in New South Wales. (Currently the percentage of older residents in some areas is considerably higher than the average, e.g. Manly Local Government Area has approx. 24% older residents, and Pittwater LGA has 22% older residents.) Australia has one of the highest rates of life expectancy in the world, 75 years for men and 81 years for women. This means that most non Aboriginal people can expect to live another 15-20 active years beyond the 'traditional' retirement age of 60. People are living longer, they are generally remaining healthy and active for longer, and they have access to greater financial resources than previous generations. (NSW Healthy Ageing Framework 1998-2003, NSW Gov. 1998)

According to number of recent studies, more and more people aged 55 and over are using computers and the Internet. Examining the attitudes and practices of older Queenslanders, researchers Margaret Steinberhg and Linda Walley found that while a fair number of older people are not computer literate, most think that computers can be mastered at any age. Steinberg and Walley found that older people who do use a computer enjoy it and feel empowered. (All Ages News 1, Official newsletter of IYOP)

1. Many older Australians and people with a disability find it hard to afford to buy a computer. New Computer Clubs for Seniors also have difficulty affording the necessary hardware to set up their club. Some Government Departments and corporate organisations dump their old computers.

2. Seniors living in rural and isolated parts of Australia have great difficulty accessing reliable and affordable telephone communications to enable them to make us of the Internet. (These people are discriminated against but we realise that it is much easier to make a recommendation than to implement it!)

3. Carers are vital to the well being of those they care for. They are also a financial asset to the Government who would otherwise have to maintain many of those being cared for in cost-intensive institutions. The well being of many carers could be enhanced by encouraging the use of computer technology. Carers could keep in touch with families, friends, the world through the Internet while still being right on hand for the person/s they cared for.

4. Many seniors are disadvantaged, frightened or frustrated when they ring for information and/or advice and find that they encounter an electronic voice giving them multiple choices. They have to remember too many options and interpret which option should b used for their enquire; choices have to be made too quickly; not all organisations/services offer an opportunity to repeat the previous step or provide a way to correct a mistake; and the ultimate waiting time is far too long.

That ASCCA be funded to organise training programmes to empower older people to become trainers in such clubs.