The Digital Economy: Opening Up The Conversation

In 2017 the Australian Government released a consultation paper asking for feedback on a wide range of questions, some of which touch on the importance of data and digital literacies to Australia's digital economy. Feedback on the Consultation Paper was accepted until 30 November 2017.

CAUL made a written submittion to the consultation which made the following recommendations:

We recommend that economic objectives in a national strategy for Australia’s digital economy must be underpinned by social policy that:

1. Addresses the gaps in digital inclusion identified by the Australian Digital Inclusion Index particularly for people with a disability and indigenous people.
2. Provides a long term roadmap for ensuring that all Australians are digital citizens.
3. Incentivises and encourages partnerships between key stakeholders such as libraries and local communities to establish projects that develop digital citizenship and address digital inclusion.
4. Is mindful of our domestic and global context, with particular attention to the UN 2030 SDGs and how they can be progressed domestically through digital inclusion and citizenship.

The 'strategy' titled 'Australias Tech Future' was released in December 2018. It did not address any of the recommendations made by CAUL and does not make any mention of the submission.