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The gap is growing between people who have access to technology and smart devices and those that do not.
The Reconnect Project aims to close this digital divide by providing mobile phones, tablets and laptops to people in need and helping them to reconnect with family, friends and essential services.
Founder of the project Annette Mayne said the idea was to repurpose the devices and extend their life and then give them to people in need.
“Technology, if people can’t afford it, haven’t got access to it, or if technology is broken and they can’t afford to have it repaired, well then they’re stuck,” she said.
Ms Mayne believes the digital divide is growing within Australia.
“I think it’s disappointing that in a country like Australia, where we have so much that we are a first world nation, it’s incredible that we don’t have everyone being able to access digital technology,” she said.
Counterpoint Community Services, which supports and advocates for individuals, families and community groups throughout Redfern, Waterloo and surrounding suburbs, is one of the distributors for the project and provides devices to its clients.
Bill Yan, operations manager for Counterpoint, believes that mobile phones are no longer a luxury item.
“The general population may think a smart phone is a luxury item … but people do not understand that now smartphones are actually an essential item when a lot of the services is going through applications like mobile apps,” he said.
“A lot of the things we do nowadays is on the app rather than going in, whether it’s banking or health or government services especially.
“A lot of those things that we can normally go into a service centre to do… has now moved towards an online platform, so it’s actually no longer a luxury item.”
He believes the pandemic has further highlighted the digital divide.
“One of the good things about Covid is that it highlights the digital and device access gap between the disadvantaged community and the general population,” Mr Yan said.
Devices provided by the project have been particularly helpful for people in abusive situations. The project has been working with women in domestic violence centres.
“If you’re on a family phone plan… and you’re in an unsafe home environment and you’re wanting to get out of that, your family phone plan and the person who manages that account can instantly cut off your access,” Ms Mayne said.
“So, to have a completely clean phone to start afresh with really gives someone a sense of security that they’re not being trapped.”
Her team recently worked with a young girl in an abusive family situation where her caregiver was constantly breaking her phone.
“She then wouldn’t have a way to contact police or someone if she needed help because he would find the phone and then break it,” Ms Mayne said.
“We were able to give her a second phone that she could keep hidden that then gave her the opportunity to at least reach out if she thought she was in danger.”
In the 18 months that the project has been running, it has given out 300 devices. It will be opening a retail repair centre in Penshurst at the end of January for the general public.
Income made from repairs will go back into the project. The long-term plan is to develop the site into a training venue.
“In the future, we hope to use that site as a training venue for someone who’s long-term unemployed or needs to reskill … to be trained in mobile and tablet repair processes,” Ms Mayne said.
“And regain employment and become self-employed or have stability in that regard, being able to run their own micro business.”
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Project Reconnect accepts all makes and models of mobile phones and tablets, regardless of their age or condition.
thereconnectproject.com.au
counterpointcs.org.au
