‘Digital First’: homelessness and data use in an online service environment

ABSTRACT

A contribution to the growth in data use is the need to access a wide range of services on the internet. In this paper, I examine the implications for people experiencing homelessness of data use necessitated by large-scale digitisation of government services and other everyday interactions. The findings from a published study are reviewed and used in conjunction with reports, websites, and inclusion policy literature to support a discussion of the impacts of whole-of-government digital transformation agendas in Australia and internationally. I argue online services drive demand for smartphones and push up data consumption, creating new burdens of cost and connectivity for people who are homeless, who rely heavily on the mobile for online access. I argue for a systematic approach to address access and affordability barriers in a data-driven society, including updating universal service measures, expanding low-income subsidies to include home broadband and mobile data and voice, and connecting inclusion efforts with other equity and justice approaches.

KEYWORDS:

• Homelessness
• data use
• smartphone dependence
• online services
• data-driven society
• digital inclusion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Newstart is the national income support allowance paid to eligible unemployed Australian citizens between the ages of 22 and 64 delivered by Centrelink, an agency of the Department of Human Services. As of time of writing, the weekly Newstart payment was AU$275.10 for a single person with no children, a rate that has not increased beyond price indexation adjustments in over 20 years (see report by Deloitte Access Economics, 2018).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) with a research grant for the project: Homeless and Connected: Mobile phones and the internet in the lives of homeless Australians (2014).

Notes on contributors

Justine Humphry

Justine Humphry is Lecturer in Digital Cultures in the Department of Media and Communications at the University of Sydney. Her research is on the cultural and political implications of mobile digital technologies with a focus on marginalised media use, networked publics and smart urban transformation. She has studied mobile communication and homelessness extensively and has conducted collaborative research on mobile antiracism apps in Australia, France and the United Kingdom. Her new project, Smart Publics, researches the social, design and governance implications of smart street furniture with a team from the University of Glasgow, building on her research on smart Wi-Fi kiosks in New York City.