New research has confirmed what many older Australians may already sense in their own lives: genuine social connection has become considerably harder to come by than it used to be, and older adults are bearing the brunt of it.

What the research found

The study, led by researchers at the University of Sydney and published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, examined 23 years of nationally representative data from the HILDA survey (Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia), covering 2001 to 2023. It’s one of the first long-term national pictures of exactly how loneliness and social isolation have shifted in this country over time.

The two aren’t quite the same thing, and the distinction matters. Social isolation refers to an objective lack of social contact, engagement or meaningful relationships, essentially how much genuine connection someone actually has. Loneliness, by contrast, is the subjective feeling that your relationships fall short of what you’d want, regardless of how much objective contact you’re getting.

Social isolation has increased dramatically. Episodic social isolation, meaning at least one period of measured isolation, rose from 16.9 per cent of Australians in 2001 to 29.9 per cent in 2023, close to doubling. Chronic social isolation, sustained across at least two consecutive survey periods, roughly doubled too, from 10.3 per cent in 2002 to 20.5 per cent in 2023.

Loneliness followed a somewhat different pattern, actually declining through the 2000s before climbing again from the 2010s onward. Chronic loneliness rose gradually from 6.3 per cent in 2002 to 8.4 per cent in 2023, a smaller but still genuine increase, reflecting a growing group of Australians experiencing loneliness as an ongoing, persistent state rather than an occasional feeling.

Why this matters so much for our readers

Here’s the finding that should genuinely catch the attention of anyone in our audience: while younger adults saw some of the sharpest increases in loneliness specifically, around 30 per cent, it’s older adults who consistently recorded the highest overall levels of social isolation, and the greatest increases over time. In other words, this isn’t a problem primarily affecting the young. It’s one increasingly concentrated in exactly the age group reading this.

Lead author Dr Neta Hagani, from the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health and Charles Perkins Centre, said there had been growing concern about Australians becoming more disconnected, but until now, little solid national evidence confirming whether that was actually true. “Older adults consistently had the highest levels of social isolation,” she said, describing it as one of the study’s clearest findings.

The research also identified specific groups at heightened risk beyond age alone: people who were unemployed, living in more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, widowed, living alone, or with lower levels of education were all consistently more likely to experience both loneliness and social isolation. Importantly, the researchers ran multiple sensitivity checks and found these trends held up as genuine, long-term shifts, not simply an artefact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why this is a public health issue, not just a personal one

Senior author Professor Melody Ding, also from the Sydney School of Public Health and Charles Perkins Centre, said social connection needs to be understood as a genuine public health issue rather than something left entirely to individuals to manage on their own. “There are no signs of closing the gap,” she said, and in most cases, the gaps appear to be widening.

Professor Ding pointed to broader structural factors, including employment, housing, living arrangements, community participation and neighbourhood disadvantage, as playing a meaningful role in shaping how connected people remain, suggesting that Australia’s widening social inequality over the past two decades may itself have contributed to declining social connection. She noted that social isolation and loneliness carry real, long-term health consequences, underlining the need for sustained policy and public health attention across the whole of life, not just in older age.

5 Ways to Avoid Loneliness in Your Own Life

Given how strongly this research points to older Australians as a group facing rising isolation, here are five genuinely practical, evidence-backed ways to protect your own social connection.

1. Build in regular, low-effort social contact. You don’t need a big event to stay connected. A standing weekly coffee, a regular phone call, or simply the same daily dog walk at the same time each day (research shows even casual, repeated contact with familiar faces genuinely protects against loneliness) all count.

2. Consider a pet, if your circumstances allow. Australian research has found new dog owners report significantly reduced loneliness within just three months, partly through the companionship itself, and partly through the natural social contact that comes from being out in the neighbourhood regularly.

3. Join something with a genuine, ongoing structure. Organisations like the University of the Third Age (U3A) run affordable, social courses specifically designed for older Australians, giving you both a reason to leave the house regularly and a built-in community around a shared interest.

4. Volunteer for a cause you genuinely care about. Beyond the social contact itself, volunteering has been shown to build a stronger sense of purpose, something we’ve written about before as its own protective factor against poor health and isolation in later life.

5. Address practical barriers early, rather than letting them compound. Hearing loss, mobility issues and a lack of accessible transport are all common, often under-addressed reasons older Australians quietly withdraw from social situations. If any of these have been holding you back, it’s worth raising with your GP, since tackling the practical barrier directly is often far more effective than trying to push through the resulting isolation alone.

If loneliness or social isolation is genuinely affecting your wellbeing, Lifeline (13 11 14) and the Friend in Need helpline are available for support, and it’s always worth raising how you’re feeling with your GP.

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. That means it’s not personalised health advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a health-related decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get professional medical advice.