Zoe Moffatt
School students and families will be able to access free broadband for a year under a government initiative McEwen MP Rob Mitchell announced recently.
Mr Mitchell announced on March 21 up to 30,000 Australian families with no home internet will be able to apply for free broadband for one year under the new School Student Broadband Initiative.
“Whilst many students can access the internet through school Wi-Fi, connecting the internet at home to support remote learning and homework is a serious affordability issue for some families,” he said.
“This initiative will relieve some of the barriers to students fully participating in educational opportunities.”
The eligible students will be identified by participating organisations and be given support to access the program.
These organisations include state and territory education bodies, selected charities and community organisations.
Mr Mitchell said COVID-19 showed how important it was for students to have internet access at home.
“The pandemic demonstrated how important it is for local students in McEwen to be connected at home so they don’t fall behind,” he said.
“I strongly encourage locals interested in this initiative to contact my office so we can help connect you to the community organisations participating in the program.”
A number of organisations have already joined the program including The Smith Family, Catholic Network Australia, and Catholic Education WA, with more expected to join in the coming weeks.
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts said the nomination process is open and the first set of nominated families are connected.
Details: www.infrastructure.gov.au/ssbi
