Digital inclusion groups to tailor training for charities

The Australian Digital Inclusion Alliance and Future Skills Organisation have begun collaborating on digital capability training for not-for-profit organisations, with a focus on adapting training tools for Australia's community sector.

The initiative will draw on feedback from ADIA's members and stakeholder network to shape training resources for community organisations and groups that deliver digital skills programs. It will also examine how organisations in the sector manage digital technologies and program delivery as artificial intelligence becomes more common across services and workplaces.

The collaboration reflects the role community organisations play in Australia's social and economic life, and the growing importance of digital literacy for people seeking work, learning and everyday services. ADIA brings together more than 500 not-for-profits, businesses, academic and community organisations, and government agencies working on digital inclusion.

The project builds on an existing relationship between the two groups. Earlier work focused on ensuring digital skills policies and programs take account of people with the most basic levels of digital capability.

Sector focus

A key part of the new work is a series of engagements designed to gather feedback on Future Skills Organisation's methods. The first will examine digital capability and the lived experience of community organisations using digital systems and delivering programs.

The focus on the not-for-profit sector comes as many organisations face pressure to modernise services while supporting people who remain excluded from digital systems. These groups often serve as frontline providers of digital assistance for people who struggle to engage online.

David Spriggs, chair of the Australian Digital Inclusion Alliance, said the collaboration would strengthen both service delivery and digital inclusion.

“Elevating digital capability for community organisations offers obvious benefits in productivity, efficiency and delivery. It also bolsters their ability to improve digital inclusion for the millions of Australians who struggle to engage effectively in the digital world,” Spriggs said.

He said training tools must reflect the conditions in which community organisations operate.

“Working with the FSO, we want to ensure digital capability tools are sympathetic to the unique needs of community organisations and the people they serve. This is particularly important as AI changes the shape of what it means to be digitally capable and as people are increasingly dependent on digital tools to participate in work, learning and life,” he said.

Training tools

Future Skills Organisation said sector input would be necessary if the material is to address practical barriers to digital uptake, including limited budgets, uneven digital confidence among staff, and the need to serve people with low levels of digital access or literacy.

Patrick Kidd OBE OAM, chief executive of Future Skills Organisation, said the collaboration was intended to shape resources around those conditions rather than apply a broad approach.

“Sector-specific insights are crucial to create digital training tools and resources that benefit those that need them. This is particularly the case in the not-for-profit sector, where we know there are a range of unique challenges to digital uptake. It is also vitally important when we think about the role of not-for-profit organisations delivering digital skills in the community,” Kidd said.

He said ADIA members could be among the first organisations to trial the initiatives.

“We're delighted to be working with ADIA and its membership to help tailor digital capability tools for the specific benefit of community organisations. I'm also hoping that ADIA members can be among some of the first organisations to trial these initiatives and make them a reality,” he said.

The collaboration places the community sector at the centre of digital inclusion efforts at a time when service delivery, communication and access to support are increasingly tied to online systems and AI-informed tools. For not-for-profits, that brings both operational demands and expectations that they will help bridge the digital divide for the people they support.

ADIA's membership includes organisations involved in research, advocacy and direct service delivery on digital inclusion. The alliance is supported by Infoxchange, Telstra and Google, and its governance and strategy committee includes representatives from Swinburne University of Technology, Good Things Australia, The Smith Family, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, Alannah & Madeline Foundation, The Inclusive Design Collective and Education Services Australia.

The first engagement in the new collaboration will focus on the lived experience of community organisations managing digital technologies and program delivery.