The Australian Capital Territory government has awarded a total of AU$478,000 ($358,200) in grant funding to 37 community groups and organisations to foster digital connection and boost technology access in Canberra.
WHY IT MATTERS
Christian non-profit group Anglicare Aged Care & Community Services is among the recipients of the ACT government's inaugural Technology Upgrade Fund. It will use the grant to purchase laptops and Apple iPads to facilitate client outreach and improve service delivery to a large group of vulnerable people, such as those with disabilities and mental health issues.
The non-profit group Migrant And Refugee Settlement Services Australia also obtained funds to buy laptops and audio-visual equipment to deliver, among others, a digital carer support programme to seniors from a culturally and linguistically diverse background.
Charity organisation Stride Mental Health will be using the government funds to acquire eight Apple iPads and a desktop computer to support its participants in undertaking telehealth appointments and accessing a range of digital mental health and wellness apps.
Other health allied community-based groups that have also received the ACT government grants include:
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Canberra Blind Society to purchase software for new rehabilitation practice;
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Health Care Consumers' Association ACT for its website upgrade;
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ACT Deafness Resource Centre to acquire a tablet for onsite client visits;
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Companion House Assisting Survivors of Torture and Trauma for its medical software upgrade;
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Print Handicapped Radio of ACT to upgrade its station's computers and make those accessible for volunteers with a print disability; and
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Mental Illness Education ACT to enhance its evaluation programme.
THE LARGER TREND
A new real-time prescription monitoring system is set to be launched in the state later this year. The ACT Health Directorate in May said Canberra Script will assist healthcare professionals in prescribing or dispensing monitored medicines for consumers.
Meanwhile, the Australian government last week handed a grant funding to the University of Sydney worth AU$3.4 million ($2.5 million) for its trial of a new model of care for young people with mental health issues using a digital health platform.
Several research institutions have also received financial support from the federal government for their projects utilising data to improve the country's primary care system.
ON THE RECORD
"The Technology Upgrade Fund addresses the digital equity gap, widened by the global pandemic, for at-risk groups in our community such as older Canberrans, people with disability and people with health conditions. It’s important we identify ways to support our community sector, and the Canberrans they assist, to create a more engaged, inclusive and empowered city," Assistant Minister Emma Davidson said in a media statement.
