The Digital Technology Taskforce was established by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in November 2019 with the purpose of ensuring Australia is a leading digital economy by 2030. The Digital Technology Taskforce is looking to develop a Digital Australia Strategy to this end.

The Digital Technology Taskforce has set out the following themes to inform the Digital Australia Strategy:

  • Moving more businesses to the digital frontier

  • A digitally capable and inclusive Australia

  • Building digital trust

  • Digital-first Government

  • Lifting sectors through digital technology

ACCAN strongly supports the development of a Digital Australia Strategy. Our submission highlights the need for this Strategy to address telecommunications affordability, reliability and accessibility – as well as the many barriers to access – for communications consumers.

In ACCAN's submission on the Digital Australia Strategy, we recommended that the Digital Technology Taskforce should:

  • consider the unique needs and challenges of small businesses when planning for the digital enabling of the Australian economy;

  • examine the need for an affordable home broadband product for households on limited incomes, while considering the nature and challenges of the wholesaler-retailer relationship;

  • advocate for the Federal Government to act as a key co-ordinator of national solutions to digital literacy, and the affordability of devices and services, in consultation with key stakeholders and affected communities;

  • consider the need for all Australians, including people with disability, to have access to the communication services that they want and need, when developing its Digital Australia Strategy;

  • recommend strategies to the Federal Government to support digital participation in remote Indigenous communities, to ensure that these communities do not miss out on the economic benefits associated with full connectivity;

  • consider the need for improved consumer protections rules relating to customer service and financial hardship;

  • address the importance of informed consumer decision-making in lifting digital access and capability, particularly in the context of the expansion of the Consumer Data Right to telecommunications;

  • consider the need for policy intervention where the market has failed to support consumer confidence and digital trust in emerging technologies and digital platforms;

  • acknowledge the circumstances in which consumers are not able to access government services digitally, and recommend that non-internet based access to services is always made available; and

  • consider vital improvements to the delivery of phone and internet services in the regions as it addresses lifting sectors through technology.

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