The Australian non-profit sector and the challenge of ICT

In recent years, the Australian Government has been encouraging the adoption of information and communications technologies (ICT) by non-profit organisations. In 2006, as a part of that process, the Government initiated a project to develop a possible model and business plan for a National Non-profit ICT Coalition (NNIC), conceived of as a coalition of leading non-profit organisations and social enterprises that would assist the sector in making more effective use of ICT. This paper draws on data collected during an extensive consultation process conducted to inform that model, and examines the data in terms of the response of non-profit organisations to the challenge of ICT within an Australian context. It then considers the implications for both the management of non-profit organisations and government policy