Watch the 2023 Solomon Lecture video
Ms Talei Elu, 2023 Young Australian of the Year for Queensland and Seisia community advocate, delivered this year’s Solomon Lecture and a recording is now available.
Held in the same week as International Access to Information Day (otherwise known as IAID on 28 September), Ms Elu’s keynote was titled ‘The story of Seisia – How access to information in remote Indigenous communities can help to solve complex problems’.
She is a proud Saibai Koedal woman living in Seisia (a remote Torres Strait Islander community in Cape York) and a member of the First Nations Digital Inclusion Advisory Group (federal) and Queensland Government First Nations Consultative Committee.
In keeping with the Queensland IAID theme, ‘Digital inclusion: connecting people to information’', Ms Elu spoke of her personal experience of the digital challenges and opportunities that she sees in remote communities. The lecture was a reminder of how digital inclusion can impact an individual’s right to access information, including government-held information.
The keynote was very timely, given the recent findings from the 2023 Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII) report, which measured digital inclusion across the country comparing things like access, affordability and digital ability. The ADII report noted that while digital inclusion is improving in Australia, there is still a long way to go so that everyone can enjoy the benefits and opportunities, especially the most vulnerable groups such as First Nations communities, older Australians and people on the lowest incomes.
The keynote was followed by a panel discussion focusing on bridging the digital divide and real life case studies. Journalist Ms Kim Skubris emceed the event and moderated the panel featuring:
- Ms Talei Elu
- Mr Chris McLaren (Chief Customer and Digital Officer, Queensland Government Customer and Digital Group)
- Mr Chatur Zala (CEO, Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council)
- Professor Michael Dezuanni (Program Leader, Digital Inclusion and Participation, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT)
