20130114 CLT - Economic Dimensions to Indigenous Access to IT
1. Update on Economic Indicators for ATSI
community
https://sites.google.com/site/crauchlethesis/documents/MDCD2012presentation%20outline.pptx?attredirects=0&d=1
Student: Christopher Rauchle
Supervisor: Stephen Cassidy
Snum: 41958209
2. Population Recap
Overall nearly 550,000 Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people were
counted in the 2011 Census, which is
an increase of 21 per cent from 2006,”
said Ms Nankervis.
“The publication shows children aged
under 15 years make up 36 per cent of
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander population, compared with 19
per cent of the non-Indigenous
population. 2012 figures17
4. Economic data – household income
The top three data points for Indigenous
household incomes are $400, $600
and $1500 a week. Other households
are $1500, $3000+ and $400.
Although Indigenous households earning
more than $150K/year ($3000+) are
not as numerous as other households
earning that amount there are more
than 11 thousand of them
The question is, is there a correlation
21
between household income and
internet use/type
5. Internet Type by Household Income
Majority elect to have DSL
No clear selection based on household
income (small drop off in mobile
broadband for income >$120K)
“There was a large increase in
the number of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander households
that had access to an internet
connection at 63 per cent,
compared to 40 per cent in
2006. 19
6. Internet Type by Remoteness
Satellite use is very high in remote areas
(although up to 60K people in major
cities have to get their Internet and TV
through it due to signal issues)
As expected, mobile broadband is still
useful in remote areas because it can
reach more than 40K from the base
station. NBN‟s LTE promises to extend
this to 100km at a speed of 12-
100mbps per household7
Cable is hamstrung by the fact that no
new cable is being deployed and it
stopped at just over 1m of the 6.7m6
households with internet (there are
8.5m households in Australia up from
7.9m in 2006
7. Census Data – Education level
• There is a large cohort moving through
Primary and Secondary education.
They will soon arrive in the workforce
and tertiary education where they are
currently underrepresented.
• A stable home life and good nutrition
are essential for a good education.
The closing the gap report says that
there has been no improvement in
Indigenous Health measures
Type of educational Indigenous status
“In the 2011 Census, we saw that 37 institution attending Indigenous Non-Indigenous not stated Total
per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Pre-school 13,975.00 314,574.00 4,294.00 332,843.00
Strait Islander people aged 15 years Infants/Primary 81,554.00 1,649,610.00 24,044.00 1,755,208.00
Secondary 50,985.00 1,268,343.00 16,716.00 1,336,044.00
and over have completed Year 12 or
Technical or Further Educational 13,211.00 455,925.00 4,472.00 473,608.00
higher qualifications, up from 30 University or other Tertiary Institution: 0,127.00
1 916,462.00 5,936.00 932,525.00
per cent in 2006.19 Institution not stated 50,408.00 634,801.00 826,483.00 1,511,692.00
Total 223,925.00 5,395,916.00 883,739.00 6,503,580.00
8. Economic Data – Financial Hardship
Disposable income in Indigenous
households is still below average with
only half (as opposed to 85% of other Indigenous
Non-
Indigenous
persons(a)
households) claiming they could raise persons(b)
$2K in a week (the ABS‟s measure of Whether household members could raise $2000
in an emergency(c)
% %
a whether a household is in financial Could raise $2,000 within a week 46.4 85.3
hardship or not.) Could not raise $2,000 within a week 47.2 12.9
Not stated 6.5 1.8
Total 100 100
Total persons aged 18 years and over ('000) 290.9 15 192.9
(a) Data from the 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey.
(b) Data from the 2006 General Social Survey.
(c) Ability to raise $2,000 for something important w ithin a w eek. See the Glossary.
Note: The 2008 NATSISS population in this table varies to that show n in the summary tables.
Therefore, these estimates w ill differ from other estimates presented.
9. 2011 Indigenous Households –
Homelessness
HOMELESS PERSONS, Selected characteristics–2006 and 2011
Internet assisted networking is difficult
2006 2011
no. % no. %
if you are homeless (could mean
Indigenous status severely overcrowded, constantly
Indigenous 25,950 29 26,744 25 changing address etc…not simply
Non-Indigenous 57,324 64 70,085 67 living on the street)
Not stated 6,454 7 8,408 8 Indigenous population is severely
Total hom eless persons 89,728 100 105,237 100
overrepresented in the estimate
(more than 10 times their population
rate) but they are dropping as a
proportion while non-Indigenous is
rising
The Homeless do use social
networking.13 There are free
services on Telstra that allow them
to access a version of facebook
called facebook zero linked to some
riots in FNQ
10. Health Issues
Indigenous life expectancy
• Indigenous food security and traditional
high protein diet was overturned by
provision of rationed diet from central
stores after relocation programs
between 1900 and 1960s resulting in
higher incidence of preventable
diseases such as diabetes and heart
disease
• It is unreasonable for an Aboriginal man
to expect to live to 65 at this rate (the
rate has not improved for decades) but Population expected to live to age 65
it is for other Indigenous people. Read more: http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/health/aboriginal-life-expectancy#ixzz2Hr0SiQgg
(Nigerians have a higher life expectancy
than Indigenous Australians.)
• Consequently, death and funerals
feature in Indigenous society at present.
11. Census Data - Occupation
I16 LABOUR FORCE STATUS
BY AGE BY SEX FOR Number Percentage Commentary The entire indigenous workforce of
INDIGENOUS PERSONS
Employed: 147,708 83% Much of the
around 180k is smaller than the top
Indigenous labour two employers in Australia (Coles and
force is employed
Unemployed 30,460 17% But the Woolworths have about 94k staff
Unemployment
rate is much
each)
higher than the 5% The participation rate is similar to the
for the total pop
entire Australian Population but the
Total labour force 178,168 51% And only half the
people who can
unemployment rate is far higher than
work are the current national average of 5%
participating
Not in the labour force 155,885 44% Reflecting the fact Labour Force Australia, Total Percent
that they are November 2012
either out of,
Employed persons 11,529,400 54%
haven't yet
entered the labour Unemployed persons 647,800 3%
force (children) or Unemployment rate (%) 5.3%
not participating
Labour force status not stated 17,228 5% Participation rate (%) 65%
Total 351,281 64% And only a bit
more than half of
the pop can work Total Indigenous 548,370
Total Other 19,900,766
ABS stats17 Total Pop 21,507,719
12. Likelihood of Jail/Criminal Record
Incarceration is worsening: the
national rate of Aboriginal
juvenile incarceration has risen
to a startling rate of 31 times the
non-indigenous rate
In 2008 it was 27 times.
In 1994, young Aboriginal people
were 17 times more likely than
non-Aboriginal juveniles to be
incarcerated.12
13. Device Access
• Since my last talk the cost of devices
has plummeted.
• Original people‟s computer in India –
the Akash, was an underpowered
faulty flop but the Akash II has been
pronounced a success. (subsidised
cost of $30 it comes with $2/month
internet access in India)
• Cheapest Monthly access in Australia
Kogan‟s cheapest tablet is currently $120 and the Akash
hovers at the $10 mark 2 ranges from $75-$105 if purchased by the public10
• One Laptop Per Child have shelved
plans for their new tablets but that‟s
okay because there are several sub
$100 Android tablets available now.
The goal of a $30 tablet without
government subsidy is within reach.
15. Remote Internet Access
NBN Satellite
• Had an intention to work with a community at
Papunya and provide higher grade of Internet and
survey the users experience
• 1000ms pings contributing to a 90% packet loss
• Upload/download limits of 10Gb/month
• Disrupted by poor weather/smoke/cloud (Ku band is
the same frequency as water)
• Many applications that require close handshaking
(encrypted banking, vpn, streaming video) do not
work
16. Remote Internet Access - ADSL update
Papunya – used to have Satellite only in the
library. Kept alive by the State Library of
SA, 200Mb per person per month. Very
slow, very unreliable, very scarce
resource.
ADSL came to Papunya in September 2012.
Now people bring Wi-Fi phones and
tablets and sit outside to use the free Wi-
Fi.
Businesses now have Wi-Fi and there is talk
of an internet café.
However, Indigenous Australians have been
put onto the cheapest customer service
mode, the Internet, in areas that are not
suited to it.
17. Free ATM access
2010 enquiry discovered some people
were spending up to 20 of their
income on ATM fees5 - Fees were
abolished in May 2012 on 73 Remote
communities…these fees still exist for
people in non-remote communities
Shopkeepers sometimes require
customers to use their ATMs rather
than eftpos. Balance checking can
sometimes be 20% of a person‟s costs
for the month (no other means of
checking electronic transactions –
mobile banking or using the public
phone not an option) with the fees
being charged up to $10/transaction
with no other way to retrieve
Centrelink payments.9
18. Income Quarantining
For those individuals or areas that the
Dept. of Human Services has ruled at
risk, Centrelink payments are made to
a Cashcard operated service called
BasicsCard. There are people using
BasicsCard in my area. It‟s like a
Income management isn‟t working22
Coles voucher that cannot be used to
buy alcohol, tobacco
Owner of a Logan Supermarket showing income
quarantining with BASICS card
19. Remote Community Access -
Pornography
Pornography restrictions brought in
included games and computer based
media. Interesting to note that the 11k
fine is six times the amount that many
people said they could not raise in an
emergency – meaning jail and a
criminal record for possession
Now being extended to non-Indigenous
people due to Stronger Futures Act of
2011 – non-Indigenous people in a
Prescribed Area are now also subject
to Anti-Pornography controls.
20. Indigenous Social Networks
National Centre Indigenous Excellence
is developing a social network2
however research indicates that an
isolated social network may not be as
valuable to Australian Indigenous
people as an open one.
“It is known that entrepreneurs obtain
resources from social
networks…these take on different
forms ranging from financial capital,
industry information and advice, to
emotional support and other pertinent
general knowledge.”11
Indigenous Community Volunteer program20
21. Indigenous Social Networks
Comparison to other countries:
Denmark, Hawaii, Australia
Denmark Hawaii Australia
Indigenous 89.6% 19.85% 2.5%
View of Indigenous Professionalism more Part of society Takes you away from
network important society
Cultural Integration Mainstream Well integrated in cities In order to relate to
and majority population professional network
must leave social network
Network dynamics Dynamic „coloured network‟ Dependence on racial
dynamic acceptance
Business relations Many Business Relations Many and V. personal Dependent; power
business relations imbalance
22. Rise of the Indigenous Middle Class
The 53rd Boyer Lectures were presented by Professor
Marcia Langton AM, Chair of Australian Indigenous
Studies at The University of Melbourne
The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the
Resources Boom
• Rio Tinto employed four Indigenous workers in 2000 (two
were gardeners) but grew to 1,500 today (the largest
employer of Indigenous workers in Australia with a 31,854
strong workforce15)
• Indigenous males suffer from criminal records that exclude
them from jobs (often these are for offenses such as swearing,
drinking in public etc. that might attract a warning for other people) so
an easier path for the household to employment is through
its women
• “Between 1994 and 2008, indigenous employment
increased from about 30% of indigenous people of
working age to about half of that population set in the
national workforce. Much of this growth was in the private
sector.”8
23. Rise of the Indigenous Middle Class
• Aboriginal people had established businesses
on the Australian frontiers during colonial
times
• Aborigines were stripped of their property by
the State. It was illegal for Aboriginal people to
own property and to engage in business.16
• Most Aboriginal populations are Remote and
Regional, exactly where the mining boom is
taking place. This boom shows no sign of
ending and in this tight labour market the
ready supply of Indigenous workers will
provide both royalties and employment for
many.
24. Conclusions
• The demographic trend going through is that a large cohort are about
to be tertiary educated and or employed for the first time.
• There is little drop off in fertility and no change in mobility meaning
this population will need to rely on mining, health and education
• Social networking strategies should focus on including networks from
non-Indigenous people to strengthen the connections (increase the
radius) of Indigenous networks.
• Indigenous people are working their way to income and education
parity with the rest of the population but health and housing makes
this difficult.
• Internet access is rising rapidly and with the provision of technologies
that allow longer distance mobile connectivity, basic internet access
should be provided to this population within the next decade.
25. References
1: http://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/item/30281-cisco-buys-cloud-networking
2: http://www.ncie.org.au/images/stories/supporters/MediaRelease_CoE_Sefiani.pdf
Banks recognise the value of Indigenous dollar 27/5/12 http://www.afr.com/f/free/markets/capital/cfo/banks_recognise_value_of_indigenous_R8plJ20KmjumoHuYlGhdfM
3: Logan is set to trial a site for income management via the new BasicsCard
http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/logan/logan-is-set-to-trial-a-site-for-income-management-via-the-new-basicscard/story-fn8m0u8i-1226418145169
5: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-25/remote-aboriginal-atm-fees-to-be-abolished/4033108
6: Number of Internet connected households, ABS series 81460DO001_201011 Household Use of Information Technology, Australia, 2010-11
7: http://www.itnews.com.au/News/259237,nbn-co-eyes-faster-wireless-speeds-over-lte.aspx
8: Marcia Langton, boyer lectures – lecture 1 http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/boyers-ep1/4305610#_ftn1
9: Remote ATMs charge $10/withdrawal, http://youtu.be/Do0C6p6DTIM ABC news on YouTube
10: Datawind is manufacturing the Akash 2 as the Ubislate http://www.ubislate.com/
11: Entrepreneurship and Regional Development: An International Journal – Networking and culture in entrepreneurship, Kim Klyver & Dennis Foley
12: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/black-sentences-soar-as-juvenile-jails-become-a-storing-house/story-fn9hm1pm-1226547889340
13: 20490DO001_2011 Census of Population and Housing: Estimating homelessness, 2011
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/2049.02011?OpenDocument
14 The homeless use Facebook?! Similarities of social network use between college students and homeless young adults, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.019
15: Recruiting trends at Australia's biggest employers, Business Review Weekly, http://newsletter.mycareer.com.au/general/nov2006/job-
update/section/thomson.aspx
16:Marcia Langton, LECTURE 5 - COUNTING OUR VICTORIES: THE END OF GARVEY-ISM AND THE SOFT BIGOTRY OF LOW EXPECTATION
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/2012-boyer-lectures-245/4427682#transcript
17: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6202.0
18: Population pyramid from ABS stats,
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/2076.0Main%20Features1102011?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=2076.0&issue=2011&num=
&view=
19: The changing face of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/2076.0Media%20Release12011?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=2076.0&issue=2011&num=&
view=
20: facebook group, indigenous community Volunteers, https://www.facebook.com/IndigenousCommunityVolunteers
21: ABS 2006 stats on workforce composition,
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/cashome.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/65317b8f86968271ca25758b0011e956!OpenDocument
22:Income management doesn‟t work, http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/05/17/income-management-isnt-working-and-macklins-twisting-the-truth/