Digital inclusion project puts First Nations voices at the centre

Across remote First Nations communities, digital access is essential for education, banking, healthcare and staying connected, yet many communities still face major barriers to reliable internet, devices and digital support. Mapping the Digital Gap, a partnership between RMIT University and Telstra, works alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to better understand digital inclusion on Country and identify what's needed to strengthen connectivity.

Over the past three years, the research team has visited 12 remote First Nations communities to learn how people access the internet, use mobile devices, and stay safe online. Community voices, Elders and local organisations have shaped every step of the project, ensuring the work is community-led and community-owned.

LYNDON ORMOND-PARKER: The world is moving online. Access to basic services like education, banking and healthcare now tends to require a device and a good connection. You really have to look at the communities that are getting left behind.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities living very remotely in Australia, you find that access to infrastructure, basic services and communication is often very limited. This creates a significant digital divide. It really is important that people in remote communities have access to the same quality of service as in the capital cities.

We established the Mapping the Digital Gap program in 2021 supported by Telstra. We wanted to really understand the digital divide between First Nations people living in remote and very remote communities compared to other Australians in the rest of the country.

Over the last three years, we've visited 12 First Nations communities in remote areas to see how they access the internet, use their mobile devices, and their digital ability to get online safely. Getting out into community is the best way to understand the obstacles for digital inclusion in remote communities. We also learn and see how people are actually using infrastructure, whether the infrastructure is working or not, and what are some of the requirements that communities need to move forward to get better connection. It's really important when we partner with community organisations that they have some sense of ownership over the research. We also feed back to the community all of the results. They can use the Community Outcomes report as an advocacy tool for their services locally.

MADELINE GALLAGHER-DANN: Basically the partnership and the research part of it has been awesome. It's basically highlighted a lot of areas that, majority of us wouldn't think of on a day-to-day basis. It also highlights the remoteness of Kalumburu and what is needed for these parts of the world and you know, what can be done, what needs to be improved and what still is a possibility.

KYLIE HANSLOW: The reports from the Mapping the Digital Gap were really good for us to use as an advocacy tool for improving services here in Wujal. They were really good to use for an advocacy tool for the for the Regional Connectivity Grant. They were one of the main resources we relied on for the increase in the speeds and the requirements for improvements, digital connectivity in Wujal. It's something we refer to quite often.

LYNDON ORMOND-PARKER: We also provide those reports to Telstra, our funding partner. Telstra is then able to utilise the research and reports and look at them in a way that supports them, and Lauren Ganley, the Telstra advocate, to really advocate for services required in those communities that we've done our our research in.

Galiwin'ku was one of our research partners for the last three years. From those reports, we found that the Telstra Tower and Telstra services were very congested under 4G. That provided the data for Telstra to go back and look at replacing that 4G tower with a 5G tower.

LAUREN GANLEY: The Mapping the Digital Gap research has been instrumental in providing the data on remote communities and the gap that exists with digital inclusion. It gives us the evidence, you know, to help us work out where we're going to invest to help close that digital gap.

LYNDON ORMOND-PARKER: Through the Mapping the Digital Gap project, we've seen that it's really important to ensure that industry gets on board, governments get on board and communities are on board, and that all of these initiatives to close that digital divide are run and led by the communities themselves.