The Benevolent Society’s Digital Inclusion Pilot Project won the Digital Innovation Award at the Third Sector Awards 2024.

What is the Digital Inclusion Program? 

The Benevolent Society joined forces with non-profit organisation WorkVentures to launch the Digital Inclusion Program pilot at the end of 2023 to support people with disability achieve their goals and help bridge the digital gap.

The program promotes digital inclusion for people from low socio-economic backgrounds by providing them with a free laptop, 12 months paid internet connectivity and IT training and ongoing support to improve digital literacy skills.

It’s enabling Australians that are digitally excluded to become more confident finding the information and services they need online and to help them engage with friends, family, health practitioners, schools or networks.

Why is there a need for this program?

Almost one in four people in Australia are digitally excluded, when considering factors of access, affordability and digital ability. 1.1 million people with disability do not use the internet.

With services, including finance, education, and health, increasingly being delivered online, it’s important no one gets left behind.

This program is about bridging the digital divide to ensure everyone has the skills and support to thrive in the digital age.  

How has the program evolved over 2024? 

Thanks to the generous support of one of our corporate donors, we have expanded the program by offering it to all our clients including our Women’s Space in Labrador, NDIS Early Childhood Approach Program, Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) prevention and Carer Gateway to name a few.

To date, we have supported 160 clients from the child, youth and family programs, 30 carers from Carer Gateway and 85 clients from Disability Services.

What has the response from participants to date been like?  

Feedback to date has been overwhelmingly positive.

Clients, particularly those in rural areas, have reported increased connectivity with support networks in their local communities. 

We’ve also seen children taking part in the program use their laptops to access educational resources and learn new skills like counting. On our YouTube channel, there’s a video featuring South Australian mother Danielle who talks about how the program has benefitted her three-year-old son, Oliver, who was diagnosed with global developmental delay. She has already noticed positive impacts on his development and sees the opportunities it will bring when he starts school. 

Many of our clients from the DFV program have stated that they now can enrol for online learning and look up for employment online and highlighted that the training has helped them a lot.

Those who want to participate, support or get involved can reach The Benevolent Society by calling call 1800 236 762 or visiting our website for more information.

Learn more about the finalists and winners of the Third Sector Awards 2024 here.