Our three focus areas
We’ve paired up with eleven amazing non-profit organisations who’ve joined us through our Young & Connected fund. They’ll deliver an incredible range of programs – many co-designed with children and young people – that will contribute positively to our three key focus areas.
These are:
- Included: enhancing digital skills and careers.
- Empowered: promoting digital safety and wellbeing.
- Connected: ensuring access and connectivity.
In this article we’ll be looking at our ‘Included’ focus area and associated partners.
Read our blogs on our ‘Empowered‘ focus area, “Empowering children and young people online” and ‘Connected‘ focus area, “Connecting young people: a look at technology access and mental health services for young Australians.”
Why being included is so important
Almost 70 per cent of Australian workers already use digital skills in their jobs. And this number is set to rise to 90 per cent in the next five years.1
Without the access to digital skills, our young people could be held back in their future careers and everyday lives. We want all children and young people to be equipped with the digital skills they need, but unfortunately this is not the case for many.
Those experiencing (or at risk of) mental ill-health, First Nations, refugee and migrant community members, LGBTQI+ backgrounds, living in regional, rural, or remote communities, living with a disability, from low socio-economic backgrounds, and those who are neuro-diverse, don’t always have access to the quality digital skills education that they deserve.
That’s why we’ve chosen this first group of partners who are delivering some incredible programs to make a positive impact in this space.
Our ‘Included’ partners
AMES Australia, opens in a new window: The “See Your Path” project will equip young migrants and refugees with digital media skills and increase their employment opportunities in the media and communications industries. CEO Catherine Scarth says, “We’re so thrilled to see how this partnership will bring more diverse voices to the media and communications sectors that can foster empathy, challenge stereotypes, and promote understanding across cultures while building employment pathways. It’s all about inspiring positive change and amplify marginalised voices.”
Big hART: Their NEO-Learning initiative improves digital inclusion and education for First Nations people particularly those in remote communities. Mark Leahy Creative Producer, Big hART shares, “We’ve had an incredible connection with the Telstra Foundation for a few years now. I’m so please that this ongoing support means we can work with 80 young First Nations students, to create awesome content for our NEO-Learning education platform. We’ll be able to bring this content to 5,000 primary school students across Australia, increasing their connection to First Nations culture and that’s what gets me up in the morning.”
Girl Geek Academy: The Empowering girls with AI project is aiming to address the gender gap in technology. Girl Geek Academy Co-founder Sarah Moran notes, “With Telstra Foundation’s support, we’ll be able to support and increase the number of women in tech by teaching coding, game development, and AI. Importantly we know that the more representation women have in digital industries the more inclusive the outputs of the industry are. And everyone benefits from that!”
Young Change Agents: The Digital Boss program empowers educators across regional and rural Australia to teach social and digital entrepreneurship, fostering innovation among students. Co-founder and CEO Margaret O’Brien says, “The Young & Connected Fund ensures that schools and teachers can easily introduce and embed entrepreneurial and design thinking. We are very grateful for this support.”
Our ‘Included’ partners share our belief that young people’s access to quality digital skills education, is fundamental to a fairer, more equitable, and inclusive digital society.
1. Connecting and Collaborating – Digital Skills for Employment (Nov 2022)
