Submission to the Tasmanian

Government’s Our Digital Future

Consultation Draft

November 2019

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About TasCOSS

TasCOSS is the peak body for the community services sector in Tasmania. Our membership includes

individuals and organisations active in the provision of community services to low-income Tasmanians

living in vulnerable and disadvantaged circumstances. TasCOSS represents the interests of our members

and their clients to government, regulators, the media and the public. Through our advocacy and policy

development, we draw attention to the causes of poverty and disadvantage, and promote the adoption

of effective solutions to address these issues.

Please direct any enquiries about this submission to:

Kym Goodes CEO Ph. 03 6169 9500 Email: Kym@tascoss.org.au

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Introduction

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the consultation draft of the Tasmanian Government’s

strategy for digital transformation, Our Digital Future.

TasCOSS advocates on behalf of low-income Tasmanians who often live in vulnerable and disadvantaged

circumstances. We advocate for public policy that values and respects the diversity of Tasmanians and

makes a real difference to the lives of people who are experiencing vulnerability. We work to ensure

that the human rights of all Tasmanians are integrated into government consultation processes, policy

approaches and budget allocations.

TasCOSS submissions and advocacy are strongly informed by the expertise of our members and the lived

experiences of the Tasmanians we represent. In preparing this submission, we have drawn on the

findings of and the consultations, round table discussion and collaborations that informed TasCOSS’

Understanding Digital Inclusion in Tasmania report.1 We strongly encourage policymakers to revisit this

report for an in-depth analysis of the issues of digital inclusion in the Tasmanian context. We also

conducted consultations in November 2019 in Hobart and Launceston, which have informed the

recommendations in this document.

Context

Digital technology is an enabler, allowing people unprecedented access to information and services. It

has also become increasingly integrated into daily life. Banking and paying bills, searching and applying

for jobs, managing health care, research and study, accessing essential services and even socialising with

friends are increasingly happening online.

This has brought clear benefits for business and the community, making commerce and personal

transactions faster and cheaper and making it easier to access a range of services, especially for those in

regional and remote areas.2 It can also foster community and reduce social isolation by acting as a tool

to build and maintain relationships over previously insurmountable distances.

However, these benefits are not being enjoyed by everyone in Tasmania. And as digital technologies

become ever more pervasive, and more aspects of life require digital access and ability, some people

risk becoming increasingly digitally excluded. Those most at risk of digital exclusion are people who

already experience disadvantage in some form, such as unemployment or a low level of formal

education. Further digital exclusion will compound the barriers they face to full participation in the

social and economic lives of their communities, and of Tasmania.

It is in this context that TasCOSS welcomes the Tasmanian Government’s development of a digital

transformation strategy. We note that the Consultation Draft states this first 3-year strategy ‘articulates

a strong commitment’ that will be supported ‘by a complementary roadmap of major actions and

milestones.’3 We look forward to more detail about the proposed actions and milestones and urge the

Government to focus its future efforts in digital transformation on the elimination of barriers to digital

participation that entrench disadvantage.

1 Available: http://www.premier.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/466795/Tascoss_Digital_Inclusion_Report.pdf 2 ACCAN, NetNecessity, https://accan.org.au/no-australian-left-offline 3 Tasmanian Government, Our Digital Future, p. 4.

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Digital exclusion in Tasmania

The Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII) aims to provide a comprehensive snapshot of Australia’s

levels of digital inclusion, including a breakdown for each state and territory. It measures three

dimensions: access (how and where we access the internet, the kinds of devices we use to access it, and

how much data we can use), affordability (the capacity of the user to pay for digital services, including

relative to their income) and digital ability (the capability of users to interact with digital technologies).

Tasmania’s most recent ADII score is 58.1. This is 3.8 points below the national average (61.9), ranks the

lowest out of Australia’s eight states and territories, and is a full 9.5 points behind the ACT which logged

the best score (67.6).4 Tasmania has improved on its score since the last report, but the rest of Australia

is improving more quickly. This means that the gap between Tasmania and the nation has widened by

0.5 points in the last year.

Tasmania recorded the lowest digital inclusion scores in the nation for all sub-indices (Access,

Affordability and Digital Ability) and for the education and age socio-demographic cohorts (see

Appendix). While Tasmania has the lowest overall inclusion score (58.1), there are particular cohorts in

Tasmania which face even greater digital exclusion. These cohorts are:

Low-income households

People over age 65

People who didn’t complete secondary school

People not in paid employment.

Low-income households (ADII: 41.4)

“I choose some things over other things. Yeah, which makes it tough. Because

it’s just me and my two children and so it’s only one wage coming in. But if it

was cheaper, that’d be probably a big help for me.” 5

Low-income households recorded the lowest overall inclusion score in Tasmania. An obvious barrier for

low-income households is affordability. We know that low-income households are forced regularly to

make choices between things that many households consider as essential, such as paying rent and bills,

buying food and putting petrol in the car. The upfront and ongoing costs associated with digital access

can be one of the first to go to make way for these more immediate needs.

People aged 65 and over (ADII: 45.1)

“It is very disappointing that so many government agencies are forcing elderly

people to use [their online services] … If it wasn’t for our daughter’s

assistance, we would be hopelessly lost regarding it all.”6

Many people aged 65 and over use digital technologies to great effect, however over 65s recorded the

lowest ability score of any cohort in Tasmania. This reflects the fact that older Tasmanians are less able

to effectively and affordably engage with the digital world. If you are an older Tasmanian you are more

4 Thomas, J, Barraket, J, Wilson, CK, Rennie, E, Ewing, S, MacDonald, T, 2019, Measuring Australia’s Digital Divide: The Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2019, RMIT University and Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. 5 TasCOSS consultation participant 6 TasCOSS consultation participant

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likely to be on a pension or low income, are much less likely to have completed year 127, and have not

had the benefit of digital natives who grew up engaging with digital technologies. These overlapping

circumstances present a challenge for older Tasmanians to overcome.

People who did not complete secondary school (ADII: 45.4)

“I’m learning how to make the computer turn my voice into writing because I

can’t spell very well. I work with a person at the library to read and spell

better.”8

Ability is a key barrier for those who haven’t completed secondary school. If you haven’t completed

secondary school, you are more likely to have missed out on some of the fundamental skills needed to

fully engage with digital technologies. As the digital world is primarily text-based, the first stumbling

block is often low literacy. Particularly as services and education programs move online, a lack of

foundational knowledge can compound difficulties in improving the skills you need to participate more

fully in the digital world.

People not in paid employment (ADII: 52.1)

The thing with the job search is that they told us that you get one to five

demerits and then you have your payment cut off. And if you miss it for any

reason, like say if you log in to MyGov, but you can’t log into JobSearch at all.

I’ve had that problem happen, and my payment gets immediately cut off

because I can’t do it.9

Affordability and ability feature strongly as barriers for those not in paid employment. Newstart and

similar payments are manifestly inadequate to meet people’s basic needs. The requirement for most

compliance reporting to be conducted online places people on these payments in the invidious position

of having to choose between paying to stay online to maintain their social security payments, or paying

for other essentials such as rent and food and risking having payments cut off because of lack of digital

access. Our consultations also heard from people who left school or work to care for a loved one and are

living on a limited carer’s allowance, who cannot afford reliable internet access. Some of these people

also reported that leaving school meant they lacked the foundational skills to navigate the online world.

Tasmania is home to proportionally more people from these cohorts than the rest of Australia

Out of all Australian states and territories Tasmania has the third-highest unemployment rate in the

country, and the highest proportion of its population in each of above four cohorts identified as most

digitally excluded. Population figures for each cohort are presented in the table below.

7 TCCI Tasmania Report 2018, p. 56 8 TasCOSS consultation participant 9 TasCOSS consultation participant

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Cohort % population, TAS % population, AUS

Low-income households10 23.9 17.9

People 65+11 19.7 15.7

Attainment: Year 11 or lower12 30.2 23.0

Not in Labour Force (NILF) 13 33.1 28.0

Unemployed14 3.1 2.9

Digital disadvantage coincides with other forms of social and economic disadvantage

Higher levels of digital exclusion are concentrated in areas of relative socioeconomic disadvantage.

37.2% of the Tasmanian population live in areas of social disadvantage.15 Census data reveals that

communities with a high proportion of dwellings without internet access are also generally areas of high

socioeconomic disadvantage. Of the 28 SA2s in Tasmania where more than 20% of the dwellings do not

have internet access, 25 are in areas of highest socio-economic disadvantage according to the Index of

Relative Social Disadvantage (IRSD).16

Digital access has become an essential service

Much like access to power or water, access to digital technologies and the internet have become

essential for full participation in the social and economic life of Tasmania and the nation, with many

businesses as well as governments moving customer services and other core offerings online. TasCOSS

believes that all governments should acknowledge that access to the internet is an essential service.17

“It should be accessible at every house, no matter what their income is, and it

should be at low cost, 'cause the way that the world works now, you have to

have access to the internet.”18

10 https://profile.id.com.au/australia/individual-income?WebID=150 11 ABS 3101.0 - Australian Demographic Statistics, Table 6 Age distribution, by sex, June 2018, Canberra, Mar 2019. 12 ABS 6227.0 - Education and Work, Australia, May 2018, Table 9 Highest educational attainment: Level–By state or territory of usual residence and sex, Persons aged 15–74 years 13 ABS 6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Sep 2019, Table 12. Labour force status by Sex, State and Territory 14 ABS 6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Sep 2019, Table 12. Labour force status by Sex, State and Territory 15 ABS 2071.0 – Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia Stories from the Census, 2016, Canberra, 6 November 2018. 16 ABS 2071.0 – Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia Stories from the Census, 2016, Canberra, 6 November 2018. 17 The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights asserts the obligation on States to ‘promote or to facilitate the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression and the means necessary to exercise this right, including the internet’ as a means of overcoming the ‘digital divide’. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, Human Rights Council, Seventeenth session Agenda item 3, United Nations General Assembly, 16 May 2011 18 TasCOSS consultation participant

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Key Issues

We focus most of our comments on Priority Area 1: Our Digital Community.

The strategy’s expressed direction is commendable: All Tasmanians should have equal opportunities to

interact with digital services and information in ways that are easy to use, convenient and readily

available. The three principles identified in Priority 1 of the strategy to support that direction (also

aligned with the three key pillars measured in the ADII) are Access, Affordability and Ability. TasCOSS

considers the strategy is a missed opportunity to provide a detailed response to these key principles.

We believe the strategy could have gone further by detailing a suite of actions to address the barriers to

digital inclusion that are well documented, particularly regarding affordability which is one of the main

barriers to digital participation.

Access

The strategy contains some actions intended to improve digital access, though they lack detail. Some

areas of Tasmania experience poor internet connection, so improving telecommunications

infrastructure (action 1.4) is a key role government can play. But it is not the only access issue.

During our consultations we heard that some people are confused about whose responsibility it is to

have the NBN set up in rental properties. For Director of Housing-owned properties, it is the

Government’s responsibility and they have given the NBN approval to do the installations. Tenants are

reimbursed for any installation costs.19 It is the tenants’ responsibility, however, to connect, activate and

pay for internet access through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). For non-Director owned properties

NBN connection requires the approval of the owner. We recommend the Government make these

responsibilities clear in its communications on digital inclusion and on tenants’ rights. We also

recommend the Government encourage owners of rental properties, whether private, or social or

community housing, to view NBN connection as essential, alongside power and water, and therefore

ensure their properties have the NBN connected.20

In terms of accessing skills, we heard during our consultations that some sites offering free Wi-fi access

and/or digital skills training are not necessarily places that digitally excluded people feel comfortable

attending. In particular, people with low confidence in their ability to use digital technology do not see

current digital skills opportunities as accessible. While libraries, Neighbourhood Houses and similar

environments provide important access points for many Tasmanians, they are not universally attractive,

such as for some young people and men. We also heard that people living with high levels of stress or

anxiety, for example as a result of family violence or financial hardship, can find it difficult to absorb

information, so digital skills need to be delivered appropriately.

To overcome some of these barriers, the following suggestions were made:

Working with someone they already trust can help someone with low digital confidence and/or

low foundational literacy engage with digital skills opportunities.

Offering these opportunities at places they already attend and enjoy being at would also be

helpful.

People are likely to be more engaged if digital skills opportunities are built into activities in

which they are already engaged.

19 Department of Communities Tasmania, telephone conversation, 18 November 2019. 20 By ‘NBN connection’ we mean NBN-ready. Tenants are responsible for setting up and paying for internet access on an internet plan via an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

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Training staff in community-based services and businesses in adult literacy and digital skills.

Digital skills trainers should be trained to recognise and respond appropriately to learning

difficulties resulting from anxiety, trauma or stress.

Free public Wi-Fi is available in various locations around the State, but it has many limitations that make

it unsuitable as a replacement for much personal internet use:

It is limited to 30 minutes per device, per location, per day.

The free network is a partnership with Telstra and is aimed at ‘servicing international tourists visiting Tasmania’ so is offered primarily in areas of high tourist visitation, rather than highest need for the community.

The service restricts traffic that is ‘bandwidth intensive’ (such as movie streaming) and quality levels are influenced by the number of concurrent users.

The network is open and unsecured, which means data sent over the network could be intercepted. The government recommends ‘you don’t send or receive personal information or carry out activities like internet banking when using unsecured public Wi-Fi.21

Other issues that impact on access fall under ‘affordability’ and ‘ability’.

Affordability

The strategy should have the explicit aim of increasing affordability for Tasmanians currently

experiencing high levels of digital exclusion. The data and our consultations consistently show that this is

a key barrier for many Tasmanians.

For example, the cost of fixed broadband compared to mobile access is an issue for many Tasmanians –

as noted above, in some disadvantaged areas of Tasmania up to 20% of households do not have fixed

internet access at home. This was reinforced in our consultations, which found most people accessed

the internet via their smartphones. Those who did not also have fixed broadband at home cited cost

and, for renters, also short leases as the main reasons. Short leases make the cost and length of fixed

service contracts less attractive for renters than a mobile-only solution.22

A handful of service providers offer ‘no fixed contract’ deals however these usually come with a higher

setup fee. For example, Telstra offers a month-to-month plan for $90 per month but users must stay

with Telstra for 24 months or longer or pay $216 for the modem.23 While mobile access ensures

connectivity, mobile devices are not well suited for certain tasks such as school homework or writing

CVs and job applications. Mobile devices also incur a higher, per-unit, data costs than a household

connection.

Unfortunately, none of the major actions listed in the strategy address the specific issue of affordability.

While many solutions in this space sit with telecommunications providers, there is more the government

can do to make digital access more affordable for digitally excluded Tasmanians. Options include:

Telecommunications concessions scheme for low-income Tasmanians.

Work with the federal government and other state and territory governments to encourage

telecommunications providers to develop low cost mobile plans designed for people on low

incomes (including, for example, automatic rollover of unused credit and data; allowing

21 https://freewifi.tas.gov.au/faq/ 22 TasCOSS, Understanding Digital Inclusion in Tasmania, p. 32 23 https://www.telstra.com.au/internet/plans

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customers choice to purchase extra data rather than automatically charging for extra data;

provide extra data at low speeds; greater consumer protections for excess data charges).

Work with NBN Co to offer a low-cost service for low-income households to have access to fixed

broadband at home.24

Work with telecommunications providers to allow unmetered access to online government

services.

Ability

The strategy acknowledges the need for a focus on digital ability, including knowledge, skills and

literacy. We welcome the commitment to delivering the Digital Ready for Daily Life program and

developing more digital skills programs.

The ADII shows us that digital ability is not spread evenly across the State. Hobart ranks above the

national average (51.9; 50.8 for Australia) while North and North West Tasmania record digital ability

scores well below the national average (43.1 for Launceston and the North East; 43.6 for Burnie and

West Tasmania).25 Our work in the community and our consultations suggest there are various reasons

for these low scores. One is low levels of foundational literacy. According to literacy organisation 26Ten,

48% of Tasmanians do not have the literacy and numeracy skills they need for a technologically-

advanced world.26 The Digital Ready program will therefore need to take into account low levels of

foundational literacy in its program design.

We also heard that plans and contracts were difficult to understand, so people do not feel confident

that they have the best or most affordable plan for their needs. Feeling unsafe online was another

barrier for some people, particularly for older Tasmanians. They did not trust that they knew how to

keep any personal information safe. Digital literacy programs should build these aspects into their

activities. It was also suggested during our consultations that there is a need for independent advisers to

help consumers to get connected, stay connected and be confident using technologies in ways that are

beneficial to them. The Digital Ready for Daily Life program could play this role.

Finally, we heard that lack of confidence mastering new technologies was a barrier for some people,

again particularly for older Tasmanians. Creating a safe place for learning will be important to the

success of any digital literacy program. Our research also found that increasing people’s awareness of

the ways that digital technology can assist people’s lives can be a hook for engaging those who lack

confidence. For example, older people may wish to engage with energy use, exercise or falls prevention

apps.27 It will be important that the Government’s digital literacy activities are responsive to feedback

from participants to ensure that programs are delivered in places and in ways that engage a broad range

of people and abilities.

Digital service delivery

Actions 1.3 and 1.6 foreground the digital delivery of frontline and government services. This presents

welcome opportunities to extend access to services for the community by overcoming barriers such as

poor transport or isolation. However, without addressing access, affordability, and ability issues, this will

24 This a recommendation of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN). See http://accan.org.au/No-Australian-Left-Offline 25 Measuring Australia’s Digital Divide, p. 44 26 https://26ten.tas.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx 27 Understanding Digital Inclusion in Tasmania, p. 50

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only serve to deepen the digital divide. Digital service delivery should not come at the expense of other

access options for those who remain offline.

This leads to discussion of Priority 3: Our Digital Government. Again, the stated direction under this

priority is commendable: The Tasmanian community is best served by a progressive government that

puts the contemporary needs and expectations of citizens first, transforming the way it works and the

way services are delivered. The actions under this priority area are focused on internal processes.

TasCOSS believes that genuinely placing the ‘needs and expectations of citizens first’ requires the

government to bring citizens into the process. It also means ensuring that the expansion of digital

services is not a proxy for personal and face-to-face interaction with government, but rather a

complementary option to improve access and service delivery.

The Tasmanian Government’s commissioning of TasCOSS’ digital inclusion report, which was built upon

community consultations about digital barriers and needs, was a welcome first step in this direction. The

government must now commit to ongoing conversations with the users of both its face to face and

online services to ensure that its digital transformation does not exclude, or further exclude, any

Tasmanian citizen. TasCOSS therefore proposes the government establish a standing consumer

reference group to advise and provide feedback on the transformation project.

Measuring outcomes

The consultation draft does not include reference to whether or how the Government will assess the

success of the strategy. We believe that one measure of success will be the degree to which the strategy

improves the social and economic outcomes for Tasmanians experiencing disadvantage, particularly in

the key areas of access to health, education, employment and community participation. We recommend

the Government develop and report publicly on outcome measures in order to assess the success or

otherwise of the strategy and identify where a different approach is needed.

One obvious outcome would be an improvement in Tasmania’s ADII result. Just as the Tasmanian

Government’s economic plan is to continue the State’s current nation-leading economic results, it

should aim to top the nation when it comes to digital inclusion.

Recommendations

Given the Government’s stated commitment to ‘supporting initiatives that encourage the benefits of

digital transformation to accrue more evenly across all sectors of the community and regions of the

state,’ TasCOSS recommends the following:

Access

The Government recognise fixed internet access as an essential service in homes, alongside electricity and water.

The Government make clear in its communications on digital inclusion and on tenants’ rights that responsibility for NBN connection in rental properties lies with the owner, and that it is tenants’ responsibility to connect and pay for internet access via a service provider.

The Government encourage owners of rental properties, whether private, or social or

community housing, to view NBN connection as essential, alongside power and water, and

therefore ensure their properties have the NBN connected.

Focus the Digital Ready for Daily Life program on areas and population groups with low levels of

ability and access.

Increase the roll out of free public Wifi and the number of access points.

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Ensure those people who will remain offline can still access government services.

Ability

Consider offering foundational literacy alongside digital literacy programs for those lacking in more fundamental skills.

Ensure all trainers delivering Digital Ready for Daily Life are trained to recognise and respond

appropriately to people experiencing anxiety, trauma or stress in ways that impede their ability

to learn.

As part of Digital Ready for Daily Life, build in an advisory capacity to help people navigate complex contract and plan options, as well as assisting with consumer protection issues.

Increase resources for community organisations to run and promote locally delivered, evidence-based digital learning programs.

Expand adult literacy as well as digital literacy programs including through 26TEN and libraries.

Expand the Digital Ready for Daily Life website to include helpful information and resources related to being and getting online, such as computer basics, safety, training and coaching, digital language and other help and support.

Affordability

Introduce telecommunications concessions for people on low-incomes.

Work with the federal government and other state and territory governments to encourage telecommunications providers to develop low-cost mobile plans designed for people on low incomes.

Work with NBN Co to offer a low-cost service for low-income households to have access to fixed broadband at home.

Government to encourage all social and community housing providers to accept responsibility for funding the cost of NBN connections to each premise.

Unmeter data for access to government websites to reduce costs to the user. Other

Establish a consumer reference group to provide advice and feedback on the implementation of the digital transformation strategy.

Develop outcomes measures to assess the degree to which the strategy is working.

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References

ABS, 2019. 6202.0 Labour Force, Australia, Sep 2019, Canberra

ABS 2018a. ABS 3101.0 - Australian Demographic Statistics, June 2018, Canberra

ABS 2018b. ABS 6227.0 - Education and Work, Australia, May 2018, Canberra

ABS, 2016. ABS 2071.0 – Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia Stories from the Census, 2016, Canberra.

ACCAN, 2019. ‘No Australian Left Offline’, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network.

La Rue, Frank, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Human Rights Council, Seventeenth Session Agenda item 3, United Nations General Assembly, 16 May 2011

Profile id, 2019. https://profile.id.com.au/australia/individual-income?WebID=150

Profile id, 2019. https://profile.id.com.au/tasmania/internet-connection

Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2018. Tasmania Report 2018.

Tasmanian Government, 2019. Our Digital Future: Tasmanian Government strategy for digital transformation. Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Thomas, J, Barraket, J, Wilson, CK, Rennie, E, Ewing, S, MacDonald, T, 2019, Measuring Australia’s Digital Divide: The Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2019, RMIT University and Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne.

TasCOSS 2019. Understanding Digital Inclusion in Tasmania: Report on Research Findings. Tasmanian Council of Social Service.

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Appendix A ADII – Australia:

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ADII – Tasmania: