Redlands Coast has brought the digital divide in Queensland a little closer, with 61 Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders completing the Deadly Digital Communities literacy program, which ran from March to May this year at Dunwich on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island).
Redland City Council Mayor, Karen Williams, said that the program aims to increase digital literacy in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to better help them unlock new opportunities for themselves.
“Digital literacy is an essential skill in this day and age, as more services and daily interactions move online.
“We are all expected to access health, social and financial services online, but without the digital skills required to do so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are essentially cut off from these basic services.
“Council received $10,000 in funding from the State Library of Queensland and Telstra, which enabled Redland Libraries to create this incredible digital opportunity for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community on Redlands Coast.
“Library and Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation (QYAC) employees were up-skilled to deliver group training to 43 community members as well as 18 one-on-one sessions.
“The group training sessions focused on topics like email, searching the internet safely, computer basics, cloud storage and Microsoft Word, with specific technology questions addressed in the one-on-one sessions.
“With Council employees at Point Lookout, Dunwich and Amity Point library branches now equipped with the knowledge to provide such digital training, Redland Libraries is working on developing a pilot program on Minjerribah.”
