TasCOSS’s 2025/26 Budget Priorities Statement, Digital Inclusion: Tackling the Digital Divide, makes nine evidence-informed recommendations aimed at ensuring every Tasmanian has the means and the competency to access the benefits of the online world.
So much of what we do daily relies on an internet connection and the skills to navigate the web, but those who face barriers to digital inclusion risk falling further behind. The digital economy delivers huge social and economic benefits, however those benefits are not being equally shared.
Tasmania is the second most digitally disadvantaged state or territory with one-in-four Tasmanians facing some barrier to digital inclusion and 54,000 Tasmanians unable to get online or navigate the online world.
The economic and social benefits of tackling the digital divide in Tasmania are worth around $13.5 million per year to the Tasmanian economy and $54 million over the Forward Estimates. These benefits relate only to digital inclusion as a driver of employment growth, social inclusion, enhanced wellbeing and greater productivity, with further potential benefit derived from the impact of digital inclusion on education and the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies.
TasCOSS recommends a range of measures to improve digital inclusion outcomes and ease cost of living pressures impacting Tasmanian households. The Tasmanian Government must take the lead to improve digital inclusion outcomes and ease cost of living pressures impacting Tasmanian households through long-term investments across four key focus areas for government, including digital access, digital affordability and digital skills.