Message stick replaced by memory stick

The digital divide is alive and well in Australia. Statistically Indigenous Australians are much less likely to use the Internet in their homes than non-Indigenous Australian.The Australian government has said that they plan to provide broadband access, through the National Broadband Network, to every Australian home. However, this is not actually the case. Non-Indigenous Australians will get the chance to connect to the Internet directly from their own home, whereas the government is only planning on extending internet services to remote Indigenous communities through shared community facilities.If Indigenous communities are lucky enough to have Community access centre, they often suffer from lack of operational funds.

The following is a Youtube video about a philanthropic group of people, called the Dot.Com.Mob, who are helping indigenous Australians from far north Queensland to become digital citizens. Originally a group of 5 computer literate indigenous girls were asked to teach a group of local indigenous Australians computer literacy skills. When they arrived on the first day there was no one at the centre. The locals had to be rounded up from their homes. They were shown their local area on Google Maps, they looked at Skype and were taught skills like making business cards.
The locals ended up being so excited by the skills they had learnt and the potential of this technology that the local council gave the Dot.Com.Mob their own council chambers as a place to set up their new computer centre.   The Queensland Government Library Association joined with the group to become the Indigenous Knowledge and Technology Centre.
The centre is now inundated with people everyday. Schools are also being well attended because the children want to learn how to become literate in order to use the computers at the centre. The Dot.Com.Mob is now lobbying the government for financial aid to ensure that the centre continues to provide services. Greg McLean, Hope Vale Mayor said "we must also be funded to provide reading, so our community members can enjoy the same services as every other Australian".