Regional Development
Department of Local Government and Regional Development
Government of Western Australia


Telecentres
Telecentres
 
Overview
Go to the Telecentres websiteThe Western Australian Telecentre Network comprises 110 community owned, managed and incorporated Telecentres throughout regional Western Australia.

The Telecentre Network has injected into regional Western Australia opportunities and services taken for granted in urban Australia but not always assured for remote communities because of low population and long distances.

Telecentres provide a wide array of services, helping to bring equity to rural and remote areas. Their state of the art equipment and services are used by everyone from children to seniors, small businesses to community groups, farmers to tourists, students to the unemployed.

A typical Telecentre provides access to the Internet, a bank of computers, photocopiers, facsimile machines, modems, printers, TV-Video machines, decoders, scanners, videoconferencing and much more. The majority of Telecentres have satellite receiver dishes which enable them to participate in one-way video, two-way audio conferences on a state, national or international basis.

Telecentres act as information providers, education and training deliverers, business incubators, email post offices, newspaper publishers, computer training centres, desktop publishers, office stationary suppliers, education centres, cyber cafes, tourist bureaus, seniors' and youth clubs, hobby centres, job centres and other community purposes. They are continually breaking new ground, with some of the more recent innovations including the provision of banking services and Centrelink service providers.

top

The Role of the Department of Local Government and Regional Development
The ongoing success of the WA Telecentre program has to a large extent been due to Telecentres being able to access a wide range services provided by a support unit to assist them with ongoing planning and development. The Department’s involvement is regarded as being pivotal to the longer term success of the Network because it provides a single point of reference that co-ordinates activity, planning and development, delivers training and brokers new projects and services. It has been instrumental in managing the expansion and development of this Network and in recent years three Departmental staff have been based in regional areas across the State to more immediately meet the needs of Telecentres on a day to day basis.

The Department’s charter is to provide the Telecentre Management Committees, Telecentre Co-ordinators, volunteers and their communities with:
  • Training in areas that ensure compliance with governance obligations under the Incorporations Act.
  • Assistance to plan, develop and budget yearly activities.
  • Assistance to establish local and region wide service delivery projects.
  • Assistance to attract grants from other sources.
  • Access to brokered network wide income generating business.
  • Access to forums that establish communication between Telecentres and stakeholders across the State.
  • A co-ordinated distribution of information about government services and programs.
top

Key Projects
In conjunction with supporting the Telecentre Network, the Department manages the following information technology projects:

  • Installation of Videoconferencing
    Managing the roll-out of full two-way 128k videoconferencing facilities for up to 100 Telecentres.

  • Established Internet Access Solutions for Small Communities
    Public Internet access points in up to 40 communities with populations of approximately 1,000 people.

  • Established Modular Telecentre Facilities
    Completion of seven Mobile Interactive Telecommunications Environments (MITEs) - mobile, pre-wired buildings for communities who are more that 500kms from Perth and who are without appropriate facilities - Nullagine / Djarindjin / Jarlmadangah / Billiluna / Irrunytju / Warmun / Noonkanbah.

  • Establishing Telecentres in Remote Indigenous Communities
    Establishing up to 8 Telecentres in remote Indigenous communities.

  • Providing assistance to Establish Broadband Connections
    Establishing Broadband connection in up to 100 Telecentres across the State.

  • Established Satellite-Based Videoconferencing
    Providing remote indigenous communities with access to satellite-based videoconferencing - Djarindjin / Jarlmadangah / Ringer Soak / Noonkanbah / Tjuntjuntjara / Balgo.
Download
The Western Australian Telecentre Network - Planning for the FuturePDF 761.69Kb

Further Information
For further information regarding the Telecentre Network please visit www.telecentres.wa.gov.au.
Index
Page Utilities
Print Page
 
Send Page
 
Rate Content
 
TextTextText