Good practice

Be Connected

Australia · Canberra · See the Australia profile

National Australian programme building digital skills, confidence and online safety for people 50+. Since 2017, over 2 million older Australians have engaged via 3,500 community partner organisations, achieving a $4.01 social return per $1 invested.

2 million+

Older Australians engaged (since 2017)

3,500

Community partner organisations

$4.01

Social return per $1 invested

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: eSafety Commissioner / Department of Social Services (Australian Government)
Period: 2017-present
Keywords: Older people, 50+, digital skills, online safety, social inclusion, digital confidence

Context

Be Connected is an Australian national programme building digital skills, confidence and online safety for people aged 50 and over, delivered through community partner organisations.

Results

Since 2017, over 2 million older Australians have engaged via 3,500 community partner organisations, achieving a $4.01 social return per $1 invested.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-21
eSafety Commissioner / Department of Social Services (Australian Government) — accessed 2026-06-21
DSS – Evaluation of Be Connected — accessed 2026-06-21
APO – Social impact of Be Connected — accessed 2026-06-21

Attachments

Quality score: 92/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 6% in this catalogue (573 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Innovation level3/5

Pioneered a national-scale blended model pairing a government-hosted eSafety e-learning platform with 3,500 community-managed digital mentor hubs, embedding a formal SROI evaluation framework as standard practice for a senior-inclusion programme.

Sustainability (ongoing)1/1

Renewed by the Australian Government for 2024–2028 with Good Things Foundation Australia as national delivery partner, confirming multi-year institutional continuity.

Evaluation evidence1/1

Independent Swinburne University evaluation demonstrated statistically significant improvements in foundational digital skills, confidence, and social connectedness, with a $4.01 social return on investment per $1 invested.

Demonstrated reach1/1

Since 2017 reached over 2 million older Australians (50+) through 3,500 community organisations, far exceeding the original network target of 2,000 partners.

Documented learning1/1

Programme design, evaluation methodology, and SROI framework are openly documented by DSS and eSafety Commissioner and have informed digital inclusion design in comparable national contexts.

Cite this

Evidoria. Be Connected. Persistent ID: fdf51ae5-e724-438a-9f98-13a10f4f86d6.

Export as decision brief (PDF)

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