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Good practice Imported

Connected Students — Removing Affordability Barriers to Home Internet in Shepparton

Australia · Shepparton · See the Australia profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 54% 72/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Telstra gave 100 low-income Shepparton households a free laptop, router and two years of unlimited mobile broadband. An RMIT-led study of 183 participants found the trial isolated affordability as a distinct access barrier, though funded kits ended when the pilot closed.

100
Low-income households receiving free laptop, router and 2 years unlimited mobile broadband (2020-2022)
183
Participants surveyed for the evaluation
45
Households covered by the survey
Connected Students — Removing Affordability Barriers to Home Internet in Shepparton

Details

Maturity
Discontinued
Promoter
Telstra, with evaluation by RMIT University's Australian Digital Inclusion Index team
Period
2020-2022
Keywords
affordability, connectivity, education, low-income households

Context

Connected Students was a two-year field trial run by Telstra, with evaluation led by Dr Jenny Kennedy of RMIT University's Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII) team, launched in April 2020 in Shepparton, a regional town in Victoria.

Objectives

By removing the cost of connectivity and devices entirely, the trial aimed to let researchers isolate affordability as a distinct barrier to digital inclusion, separate from skills or motivation.

Activities

100 low-income households with at least one teenager (aged 15–18) enrolled at Greater Shepparton Secondary College received a free laptop, a Wi-Fi router and an activated SIM card with unlimited mobile broadband for the full two-year duration.

Results

The ADII evaluation surveyed 183 participants across 45 households and fed into a peer-reviewed 2023 analysis, which found that removing cost barriers alone was not sufficient: local mentoring, timely technical support and digital-skills coaching were needed alongside free connectivity to convert access into confident, sustained use.

Conclusions

The funded kits and broadband ended with the pilot in 2022, and no public evidence indicates the programme continued at the same scale afterward, underscoring a common sustainability gap between successful pilots and lasting infrastructure.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — No explicit budget figure is disclosed; conservatively estimated as medium given free devices and two years of unlimited mobile broadband for 100 households.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — A two-year pilot (April 2020 to 2022) that ended when dedicated funding ceased.
Staffing & skills
Telstra (funder and deliverer), RMIT University's Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII) evaluation team, led by Dr Jenny Kennedy

Conditions for success

  • Providing device and connectivity together removed the cost barrier entirely, isolating affordability as a variable
  • Local mentoring, timely technical support and digital-skills coaching alongside free connectivity were needed to convert access into confident, sustained use

Common failure modes

  • Removing cost barriers alone was not sufficient without added mentoring and technical support
  • Funded kits and broadband ended with the pilot in 2022 with no public evidence of continuation at the same scale

Where it fits

Governance type
corporate-funded pilot with an academic evaluation partner
Scale
local (single regional town, 100 households)
Income level
low-income households in a regional Australian town

Commonly funded by

Own resources / municipal budget

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

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

Attachments

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