2023-24 Pre-Budget Submission
The Australian Digital Inclusion Alliance (ADIA) has called upon the Albanese Government to expressly recognise the link between digital inclusion, personal prosperity and lifting national productivity in its 2023-24 Pre-Budget Submission.
In addition, the ADIA outlined the following key actions the Government could take to work toward addressing digital inclusion in Australia:
- Ensuring affordable access to the internet for all Australians. The ADIA is a signatory of ACCAN’s No Australia Left Offline initiative, which calls for a 50 mbps service for $30 per month to be available to households receiving income support.
- Supporting access to affordable devices by encouraging device donation in safe and appropriate ways.
- Supporting the creation of a common language to describe digital ability for all Australians. This would allow efficient communication, collaboration and alignment of existing efforts to lift digital ability.
- Ensuring all Government websites are compliant with the latest accessibility standards; and ensuring whole of government adherence to the Australian Standard AS EN 301 549:2020 – Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services.
- Continue partnering with First Nations Australians on bridging the digital divide and deploying robust data collection.
With the Federal Budget to be handed down on Tuesday 9 May, Treasury has published the 732 submissions received during the consultation period in December and January.