A critique of government grant based approaches to addressing digital divide issues in an Australian Indigenous community

'Digital Divide' issues have emerged as one of the key aspects of Social Informatics. Within developed, post-colonial nations such as Australia, the impact of the 'Digital Divide' is strongest for Indigenous communities. This paper reports on a case study of approaches to address these issues in the town of Roebourne, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The majority of the members of the Roebourne community are Indigenous Australians. This study examines how the community is trying to use government grants to access resources to develop a Telecentre and associated infrastructure. The paper critiques this approach to addressing 'Digital Divide' issues in this type of community, in terms of its efficiency, effectiveness and equity