029/05
5 April 2005
Regional agents making connections in remote Indigenous communities
An innovative approach to meeting the communication needs of remote Indigenous communities is expediting the installation of new telephone services in those areas, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, said during a visit to Alice Springs today.
"Under a trial program overseen by my department, regional agents have been engaged to visit remote communities, discuss their telephony needs and identify the best sites for community phones," Senator Coonan said.
"These agents, which are Indigenous organisations with considerable experience in inter-agency liaison, assist communities with their applications and the necessary location and site clearances ahead of installation work.
"The Australian Government has committed $340,000 in the current financial year to this trial Regional Agents initiative. Already, we are seeing the benefits-in better targeting of services through direct engagement with communities and responsiveness to their needs."
The Regional Agents initiative has operated since February 2005 and will continue until June. It is operating in specific locations identified by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) and Telstra in the Broome and Kununurra regions of Western Australia and in the Northern Territory in the Alice Springs/Apatula and Tennant Creek regions and the Tiwi Islands.
It is expected that up to 126 community phones services will be installed under this initiative, developed jointly by DCITA, Telstra and the Australian Communications Authority as part of the Community Phones Program (CPP).
The CPP is part of a suite of activities under the Telecommunications Action Plan for Remote Indigenous Communities, announced in 2002 by the Government.
"DCITA, Telstra and ACA have worked closely to address the complex logistical, cultural and social issues that affect the availability and take-up of telecommunications services in remote Indigenous communities," Senator Coonan said.
"We will conduct a full assessment of the elements of the CPP at the end of their respective trials, and this will inform future Government policy."