Australia and the Digital Divide
The first time I ever used the Internet was a pretty unremarkable event. I was eight years of age, sitting next to my older sister at our family computer desk watching a flurry of coloured text flying up a computer monitor. She was typing into an MSN chat room, multitasking between that and iQ Messenger. At some stage she peeled herself away from the flickering screen to use the bathroom and I took the chance to assume command of the keyboard, until she returned and rebuked me.
That was it — over in an instant — my first ever internet experience, sometime back in ‘98.
If you’re a Millennial like I am, you might look back fondly on your younger years to similar first encounters with the digital world. There were plenty of chat rooms with questionable online aliases, that familiar frustration with slow peer-to-peer downloading platforms and countless novelty flash websites to keep you entertained. It was, and still remains, a curious world full of excitement, possibility and fun.
But have you ever spared a thought for what life would be like if our generation hadn’t had such easy access to computers and the internet? Could we have completed those school projects with such ease? Would we understand the world’s meme-centric sense of humour? Or be able to contribute to global conversations via Twitter by typing at speed? Unlikely.
For some people these examples and many others are a reality. They exist on the other side of a cultural concern known as The Digital Divide.
WHAT IS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE?
The Digital Divide is a cultural, social and economic barrier that prevents some Australians from making effective use of the internet, computers and other digital technologies.
It’s a problem which is far more complicated than simply not having a computer with the internet.
As summarised by Aim Sinpeng, Lecturer in Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney, the Digital Divide canvases five dimensions of inequality:
- Access to the necessary technology (is it available and affordable?)
- Location and frequency of use (can it be accessed regularly at reasonable effort?)
- Digital literacy and computer skills (do users have the necessary skill set?)
- Technical support from social networks (is support for technical issues available?)
- Purpose of use (does it serve an intent or purpose?)
If you’re reading this then you probably aren’t concerned with any of these areas. But Australian Communications Media Authority (ACMA) research says there is more than a 12% difference separating urban and rural households that have broadband internet connection (84% and 72% respectively).
For Australians that fall outside of the majority, life in the digital age can be difficult.
WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS?
EDUCATION
Gone are the days of lugging impossibly heavy text books to and from school for most Australian students. Gone too are the hours spent at the school library nose deep in the encyclopaedia. Instead, many Australian schools rely on digital technologies to make learning more interactive, dynamic and effective. Classroom forums, digital homework, ePub texts and online research projects are just some of the ways students are using computers to learn in schools.
However, The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ data shows that 17% of Australian households don’t actually have internet access. Furthermore, a recent national ICT literacy report for school students in Years 6 and 10 found that there had been a significant decline in the average proficiency in the performance of tasks such as web browsing, formatting documents, creating a slide show and playing games, when compared to 2011 results.
For students who are raised in households where the internet is unavailable or who have below-average digital literacy skills it may be difficult to complete homework with computerised elements. They can also struggle to complete assignments on time and stay in touch with school friends over social networks. This could also lead to lower levels of employability in the future.
SOCIAL ISOLATION
Even if digital technologies are available, it doesn’t necessarily mean that members of society find themselves on the connected side of the divide. The elderly are particularly susceptible to being left behind when it comes to digital literacy. Everyday activities such as online banking, booking tickets, emailing and lodging enquiries are fast becoming the standard ways that consumers perform such transactions.
Research by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing found that almost two-thirds of elderly participants indicated they had ‘very low’ internet skills. Some said they “feel isolated from family and friends” and “there are times when you want to find out about a product or service and there is only a website no phone number.”
Seniors who engaged in online activities indicated they received help from other people rather than attending internet classes or reading books on the subject.
(Education and social isolation are just two issues tied to the Digital Divide with many more present across Australian communities such as employability, quality of life, democracy, health and safety and indigenous affairs.)
CLOSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
It’s happening. The amount of Australians going online is increasing, with the biggest lifts coming from users accessing the internet via their mobile phones — increasing 37% to 49% in capital cities and up 27% to 32% in non-urban areas (ACMA).
But the real work is happening on the ground through programs such as The Smith Family’s Tech Packs, which provide disadvantaged Australians with the hardware, software and training they need to take advantage of going online.
Tech Packs include affordable, refurbished, internet-ready computers and internet access, with participating families receiving up to eight hours of skills training and a year of free internet access with technical support.
Besides outreach programs, another factor closing the Digital Divide is the rollout of the national broadband network, which aims to deliver a high-speed internet infrastructure to most Australians. There are currently around 1.4 million homes connected with Australia’s second largest internet service provider Optus, while the network aims to connect 9.5 million homes by September 2018, including locations in rural and regional Australia.
You may have already heard how such a network will lay the foundations for Australia’s digital future and allow policy makers, services, products and corporations to become more accessible to those with limited internet access, yet it’s also important to understand that the rollout is simply laying the ground work of what’s possible through a scalable fibre optic infrastructure.
The future is what we make of it.
With this in mind, there is a light of hope that soon all Australians will have access to reliable broadband on affordable devices, reducing the inequalities that exist due to the Digital Divide.
Tym Yee is a writer at Optus and research student at Macquarie University.
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