Forget the old stereotypes - 96% of Australians aged 50+ own a mobile phone and two-thirds (66%) say they want to keep up with the latest technology and devices.

But inadequate design of mobile phones and insufficient training means that seniors are missing out on many features and technologies, including the much hyped mobile Internet and mobile email.

A survey of 2712 Australians aged 50+ conducted by National Seniors Australia and Crazy John’s has found that older Australians are now more connected than ever with 96% owning a mobile phone, including a staggering 90% of those aged 70 years and over.

The benefits of owning a mobile phone were clear, with respondents claiming it made them feel safer (78%), more connected with their family (72%), and more in touch with technology in general (49%). And don’t think texting is just for teens - 91% said they’d sent an SMS!

But the majority said that new technology was always designed with young people in mind (43%), and 87% agreed that learning about new technology was a huge challenge because they didn’t know what questions to ask.

Michael O’Neill, CEO National Seniors Australia, said: “The prevailing stereotype is that older Australians just aren’t interested in technology, however we know from talking to our members this just isn’t the case. Despite not growing up with technologies such as the Internet and mobile phones, our members have fully embraced them. It’s just a shame that the majority of technology ignores the needs of seniors.”

Clearly older Australians are also experiencing frustrations with the design of today’s mobile phones, with 55% admitting the buttons on their phone were so small they sometimes dialled the wrong number! Almost half of them didn’t know what some of the buttons on their mobile were for.

However the survey shows that older Australians do want to avail of new mobile technology – 50% said they would use more features on their mobile if someone just showed them how! With only 18% having previously accessed the Internet on their mobile, citing a lack of understanding as the biggest barrier (70%), mobile service providers clearly need to step up to the challenge of delivering a better customer experience to older Australians.

Crazy John’s Head of Customer Service and Insights, Dr Carmen Gould, said: “We’re not surprised by the results of this survey. In 2008 we introduced community-based mobile training workshops for seniors, in conjunction with our partners National Seniors Australia, and launched a range of mobile phones that meet the needs of older Australians. The response has been overwhelming, with over 4000 seniors benefiting from our training programme.”