Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee - mount isa
Greg with Committee Members Kristy Sparrow and Ian Kelly. Chair the Hon Allanah MacTiernan was also present.
Representing the Western Queensland Alliance of Councils (WQAC) Leadership Group, our Executive Officer, Greg Hoffman attended the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee in Mount Isa on 18 June to present WQAC’s submission to the review.
The WQAC submission was well received with a request for more information on our proposal to remove the “patchwork quilt” of digital connectivity across Western Queensland through a more strategic and cost-effective approach to funding programs to fill in the connectivity gaps across rural and remote Queensland.
The WQAC made a submission to the previous review in 2021 calling for a more strategic approach to the prioritisation and investment decisions of the Regional Connectivity Program to address the ‘patchwork quilt” of telecommunication and digital coverage across rural and remote Queensland. This problem remains with the Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2023 still showing our regions lagging behind the state and national averages.
Given the ongoing digital divide and inadequate digital infrastructure in regional, rural and remote communities, the WQAC Leadership Group decided it was once again necessary to make a submission to the current Review.
