CANBERRA – The Australian Government has reached its self-imposed 2026 deadline for Target 17 of the Closing the Gap agreement – which promised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people would have “equal levels of digital inclusion” by this year – and the results are in: three in four First Nations people in remote communities remain digitally excluded.
The finding comes from RMIT University’s Mapping the Digital Gap research which has spent five years documenting what most remote communities already knew. That the internet works quite well in cities and does not work at all in places where the government says it wants to Close the Gap.
“We set an ambitious target” a government official said. “And we are pleased to report that we remain ambitious.”
The research found that remote communities face significant barriers to accessing and using online services required for daily life including education, banking and healthcare. This means that the government’s plan to deliver more services digitally is particularly convenient for communities that cannot access them.
A Telstra spokesperson said the company was “committed to improving connectivity” and pointed to partnerships with remote communities. When asked why reception still drops out between Alice Springs and anywhere a local council doesn’t have a telecommunications budget the spokesperson said they would “follow up offline” which was arguably the only option.
Aboriginal health workers noted that the digital divide has practical consequences beyond convenience. Telehealth appointments require internet access. Online NDIS portals require internet access. Even applying for the grants that are supposed to improve digital infrastructure requires internet access.
“It’s like putting the instructions for building a ladder at the top of a wall” one community worker said.
The next Mapping the Digital Gap report is expected towards the end of 2026. It will presumably be published online.
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