4. Digital literacy efforts

Under the management of State and Territory Governments, digital literacy programmes were rolled out from the late 1990s onwards. A major issue, which continues to confront Australia today, is the country’s complex geographic make-up. The Australian population is concentrated in its capital cities and along its coast. Distance combined with a sparse population has disadvantaged regional and remote communities generally, with respect to ICT access. Therefore, digital literacy programmes have focused on addressing the concern of proper access to technical infrastructure for these communities, along with helping them gain exposure to the advantages the Internet provides.

Digital literacy programmes in regional areas have been a key policy priority. And these programmes have mainly comprised subsidized and assisted access to computers through an extensive network of public libraries. Public libraries are funded by State and Territory and Local Governments and managed by Local Governments. Local Governments have also provided, and continue to provide, low cost digital literacy training courses. Low cost computers are also made available to the public in libraries and library staff are available to assist in the use of the computers if required.

At a national level, to complement the roll out of new broadband connectivity, new sets of resources in support of digital literacy have been released. These include two community-based programmes. The first entitled ‘The Digital Hubs programme’ aims at equipping community members in gaining the necessary digital literacy skills to effectively participate in the digital economy. The second, The Digital Enterprise programme has sought to help small-to-medium businesses and not-for-profit organizations improve the way they do business online and to encourage participation in the digital economy.

These programmes have been supported by The Internet Basics website which provides a point of entry for Internet novices and seeks to encourage the building of relevant skills and the necessary confidence needed to get online. The website is designed specifically for those people who are new to the Internet and its use. The website has enabled people who are looking to learn a little more about the Internet, to become confident and also learn about how to stay safe whilst online.

Digital literacy efforts have focused on women by including them in efforts to reach out to members of remote and rural communities. However, despite programmes among aboriginal communities to address the digital divide, a complex set of social issues arising from the social marginalization of these communities contributes to the persistence of a digital divide. In fact, “Indigenous people are 69 per cent less likely than non-Indigenous people to have any internet connection and are half as likely to have broadband access”.²³