Across Western Australia, access to devices, connectivity, affordable data, digital skills and trusted support now shapes whether people can participate in education, employment, health care, banking, government services, emergency information, culture and community life. This report shows that digital inclusion is not only about technology. It is about dignity, safety, independence, connection and people’s ability to exercise their rights in an increasingly digital world.
The Why It Matters: A Digital Inclusion Storytelling Collection was developed through the WA Digital Inclusion Project, a Lotterywest-funded initiative led by WACOSS. Why It Matters gathered stories, insights and reflections from community members and service providers across metropolitan, regional and remote Western Australia. It used workshops, interviews, storytelling postcards and video stories to understand why digital inclusion and exclusion matter to people and communities.
The stories shared through this project show that digital exclusion is more than an issue of technology. It matters because it is related to what it means to be a human being: connection, trust, and knowing that you are safe and supported. This is why barriers to digital inclusion can have such a dramatic impact on wellbeing and a person’s ability to fully participate in the world.
These barriers are felt most strongly by people already experiencing disadvantage, including First Nations communities, migrants and multicultural communities, older people, young people, disabled people, people on low incomes, people experiencing homelessness, people affected by trauma, and communities in regional and remote locations.
A consistent message across Why It Matters is that digital inclusion cannot be left to individuals or community organisations alone. Government and industry increasingly design the systems people are required to use and therefore have a responsibility to make those systems safe, accessible, affordable and ethical. Community organisations are often left to help people navigate systems that were not designed with them in mind, despite limited funding and growing demand.
The report identifies ten principles to guide digital inclusion policy, planning, design and programs. These principles call for digital inclusion to be treated as a human right and public good, shaped by people’s needs and lived realities, built on shared responsibility, grounded in safety and trust, supported through in-person relationships, designed for universal access, strengthened through choice, affordability and local infrastructure, and tested against the realities of regional and remote communities.
Digital inclusion is inextricably linked to social inclusion. It strengthens people’s ability to stay connected, access support, exercise their rights, respond to emergencies, participate in education and employment, and contribute to community life. To create lasting change, digital inclusion must be planned and funded as essential social infrastructure, with coordinated action from government, industry, service providers and communities.