The Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2021 index found that overall, digital inclusion at the national level is improving, the number of Australians who are highly excluded has declined but remains substantial, with 11% of the Australian population considered to be highly excluded, registering an Index score of 45 or below.
Digital inclusion is about ensuring that all people can access and use digital technologies effectively.
The Digital Inclusion Index aims to improve digital inclusion by identifying the critical barriers to inclusion, accessing networks, the costs of devices or data, or skills and literacies. The Index measures digital inclusion across three dimensions of Access, Affordability and Digital Ability.
Whilst access scores are increasing nationally, these improvements are not evenly shared by all Australians. Mobile-only users, people over 75 years of age, people who did not complete secondary school, people who rent from a public housing authority, or fall into the lowest income quintile are being left behind.
Affordability remains central to closing the digital divide, however the study found 14% of all Australians would need to pay more than 10% of their household income to gain quality, reliable connectivity.
Interesting, Australians who speak a language other than English at home were found to be in general more digitally included than others, ranking higher than Australians who only speak English at home, and also higher than the national average, despite diversity in this demographic group in their age, education, and employment status.
While digital inclusion remains closely tied to age, there are signs the digital inclusion of mid-life and senior Australians is improving. Older Australians reported an increase in digital inclusion between 2020 and 2021, which was thought to reflect the increased importance of internet access for social connections and service access during COVID-19 restrictions.
Read the full report Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2021.