The importance of circumstance Digital access and affordability for people experiencing homelessness
Main Article Content
Keywords
Digital access
Abstract
Access to and affordability of digital technology for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups is an ongoing concern in an Australian context, however the digital needs, issues and barriers for consumers who are homeless are largely neglected in this literature. This paper presents findings from a research project on mobile phones and the internet in the lives of people experiencing homelessness and engages with some key issues of digital exclusion arising in the context of a general shift in connectivity to mobile media and the push by the Australian government to reform service provision around these changes. The paper argues for the need to recognise the ways that life situations and circumstances of hardship, such as homelessness, factor into the patterns of mobile and Internet connectivity, creating unique issues of digital access and equity. It argues for knowledge of these differences to inform digital delivery of government services and approaches to telecommunications policies and assistance programs, and puts forward a number of recommendations based on a study of 95 adults, families and young people experiencing homelessness which was carried out in Sydney and Melbourne in early 2014.
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References
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Vaughan, D. 2011. ‘The importance of capabilities in the sustainability of information and communications: the case of remote Indigenous Australian communities’, Ethics and Information technology programs Technology, 13 pp131-150.
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Warschauer, M. 2002. ‘Reconceptualizing the digital divide’, First Monday, July 1. Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/967/888
Willis, S; Tranter, B. 2006. ‘Beyond the ‘digital divide’ Internet diffusion and inequality in Australia’, Journal of Sociology, 42.1:43-59.
Wise, S; Wilks, S; Victoria, A. 2012. Anglicare Victoria’s Hardship Survey, Anglicare Victoria.
Wise, S. 2013. Trying to Connect: Telecommunications access and affordability among people experiencing financial hardship, Anglicare Victoria and ACCAN, September
Atkinson, J; Black, R; Curtis, A. 2008. ‘Exploring the Digital Divide in an Australian Regional City: a case study of Albury’, Australian Geographer, 39(4) pp479-493.
Auld, G; Snyder, I; Henderson, M. 2012. ‘Using mobile phones as placed resources for literacy learning in a remote Indigenous community in Australia’, Language and Education, 26(4) pp279-296.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2007. National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results, cat. no. 4326.0, Canberra.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2010. Life After Homelessness, Australian Social Trends, cat. no. 4102.0, March Quarter, ABS, Canberra.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2014. Household Use of Information Technology, 2012-13. ABS Cat. No. 8146.0. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Australian Communications and Media Authority. 2013. Communications Report 2012-2013 Series, ACMA.
Australian Communications and Media Authority. 2014. New arrangements for mobile call to 1800 and 13/1300 numbers ? consumers to benefit, Media Release 34/2014, ACMA.
Baldry, E; Dowse, L; McCausland, R; Clarence, M. 2012. Lifecourse institutional costs of homelessness for vulnerable groups. Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
Blanchard, M; Metcalf, A; Degney, J; Herman, H; Burns, J. 2008. ‘Rethinking the digital divide: findings from a study of marginalised young people's information communication technology (ICT) use’, Youth Studies Australia, 27(4), 35.
Bruce, J; Eardley, T; Goggin, G. 2012. ‘Telecommunications and Social Inclusion: Approaches to Accessibility and Affordability in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.’ [unpublished work]
Cowie, T. 2014. ‘Australia Hanging up on Payphones’, Sydney Morning Herald, August 15, Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/australia-hanging-up-on-payphones-20140815-104ght.html
Department of Finance. 2013. Australian Public Service Mobile Roadmap, Australian Government, Canberra
Donald, M; Wajcman, J. 1986. The social shaping of technology. Open University Press.
Ellis, K; Kent, M. 2011. Disability and new media, Routledge Studies in New Media and Cyberculture, New York, Routledge.
Eyrich-Garg, K. M. 2010. ‘Mobile Phone Technology: a New Paradigm for the Prevention, Treatment, and Research of the Non-Sheltered “Street” Homeless?’, Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 87(3): 365-380.
Goggin, G; Newell, C. 2003. Digital disability: The social construction of disability in new media. Rowman & Littlefield.
Goggin, G. 2014. ‘New Ideas for Digital Affordability: Is a paradigm shift possible?’ Australian Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 2 (2) June.
Goodwin-Smith, I; Myatt, S. 2013. Homelessness and the Role of Information Technology in Staying Connected, Adelaide, SA: Anglicare.
Guadagno, R. E; Muscanell, N. L; Pollio, D. 2013. ‘The Homeless Use Facebook?! Similarities of Social Network Use between College Students and Homeless Young Adults’, Computers in Human Behavior 29(1): 86-89.
Helsper, E. 2008. Digital inclusion: An analysis of social disadvantage and the information society. Department for Communities and Local Government, UK.
Hensler, N. 2003. Young People Connected, Mission Australia and NSW/ACT Community Services
Johnson, G. 2013. ‘Technology use among Indigenous adolescents in remote regions of Australia’, International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2013.823553
Kvasny, L; Kranich, N; Schement, J. R. 2009. Communities, Learning, and Democracy in the Digital Age. In Learning in Communities (pp. 41-44). Springer, London.
Lee, L; Weir, T; Markotsis, D. 2002. Social impacts of the New Economy. Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources, New Economy Branch.
Leung, L. 2014. Availability, access and affordability across 'digital divides': Common experiences amongst minority groups [online].Australian Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, Vol. 2, No. 2, Jun: pp [38.1]-[38.13]
Migliorino, P. 2011. ‘Digital technologies can unite but can also divide: CALD communities in the digital age’, Australian Public Libraries Information Service 24(3) pp107-110.
Morsillo, R. 2012. ‘Affordable Broadband for All Australians’, Telecommunications Journal of Australia, vol. 62, no. 5, pp. 80.0-80.16
Napoli, P. M; Obar, J. A. 2013. Mobile Leapfrogging and Digital Divide Policy, New America Foundation, Open Technology Institute.
National Children’s and Youth Law Centre. 2013. Caps, Apps and Other Mobile Traps: Responding to young Australians’ financial and legal issues arising from mobile phone usage, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network.
Newman, L. A; Biedrzycki, K; Baum, F. 2012. ‘Digital technology use among disadvantaged Australians: implications for equitable consumer participation in digitally-mediated communication and information exchange with health services’, Australian Health Review, 36(2):125-129.
Newman, L A; Baum,F; Biedrzycki, K. 2010. ‘Digital Technology Access and Use Among Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups in South Australia’, Community Informatics, 6 (2)
Notley, T; Foth, M. 2008. ‘Extending Australia's digital divide policy: an examination of the value of social inclusion and social capital policy frameworks’, Australian Social Policy, 7, pp 87-110.
Radoll, P. 2009. ‘The emergence of the indigenous field of practice: factors affecting Australian Indigenous household adoption’, OzCHI ‘09: Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference of the Australian Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group, pp317- 320
Rice E; Monro, W; Barman-Adhikari, A; Young, S. D. 2010. ‘Internet use, social networking, and homeless adolescents’ HIV/AIDS risk’, Journal of Adolescent Health, 47: 610-613.
Rice, E; Lee, A; Taitt, S. 2011. ‘Cell phone use among homeless youth: potential for new health interventions and research’, Journal of urban health: bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 88(6):1175-82.
Saunders, P; Naidoo, Y; Griffiths, M; with the assistance of Davidson, P; Hampshire, A; Taylor, J; Bellamy, J; King, S. 2007. Towards New Indicators of Disadvantage: deprivation and social exclusion in Australia, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney.
Sinclair, S; Bramley, G. 2011. ‘Beyond Virtual Inclusion - Communications Inclusion and Digital Divisions’, Social Policy and Society, 10 (1), 1- 11.
Turnbull, M. 2013. The Coalition’s Policy for E-government and the Digital Economy, August, Retrieved from http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/assets/Coalitions_Policy_for_E-Government_and_the_Digital_Economy_(2).pdf
Van Deursen, A. J; Van Dijk, J. A. 2013. ‘The digital divide shifts to differences in usage’, New Media & Society.
Vaughan, D. 2011. ‘The importance of capabilities in the sustainability of information and communications: the case of remote Indigenous Australian communities’, Ethics and Information technology programs Technology, 13 pp131-150.
Vinson, T; Rawsthorne, M; Cooper, B. 2007. Dropping off the edge: the distribution of disadvantage in Australia. Catholic Social Services Australia and Jesuit Social Services.
Warschauer, M. 2002. ‘Reconceptualizing the digital divide’, First Monday, July 1. Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/967/888
Willis, S; Tranter, B. 2006. ‘Beyond the ‘digital divide’ Internet diffusion and inequality in Australia’, Journal of Sociology, 42.1:43-59.
Wise, S; Wilks, S; Victoria, A. 2012. Anglicare Victoria’s Hardship Survey, Anglicare Victoria.
Wise, S. 2013. Trying to Connect: Telecommunications access and affordability among people experiencing financial hardship, Anglicare Victoria and ACCAN, September
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Published
May 26, 2020
Article Details
How to Cite
Humphry, J. . (2020). The importance of circumstance: Digital access and affordability for people experiencing homelessness. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 2(3), 16. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v2n3.290
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Telecommunications
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