Cost-of-living pressures are creating a digital literacy gap that leaves older people and those with English as a second language especially vulnerable to disadvantage.
A report released in July found the gap also made it difficult to access government support services, a situation Lat Aung Nanghee knows all too well.
When he arrived in Australia as an immigrant from Myanmar in 2013, he had hoped for a fresh start.
"It was a big change, you know? I had less opportunity in my country because of the political situation," he said.
"There were not a lot of Burmese people at the time, so that was a struggle."
When he arrived on Australian soil, Mr Nanghee not only struggled to make personal connections, but found it difficult to navigate online government services like Centrelink and Service NSW.
In Myanmar, Mr Nanghee had worked in IT and had some English skills, which he said was an advantage, but the "struggle is there".
Prompted by his own experience, Mr Nanghee decided to facilitate digital literacy classes in Burmese at a local library in Wagga Wagga, his adopted home.
"They didn't have the privilege to study back in our country and here everything is going online, even paying your bill or car registration," he said.
Digital access now essential
July's Cost of Living Report from the New South Wales Council of Social Services (NCOSS) found more than 880,000 people were living below the poverty line.
The report detailed the steps low-income families had been forced to take to survive, including skipping meals and not buying medication.
Many respondents also reported going without mobile data and internet at home, despite citing it as a priority expense.
The numbers were particularly high in regional New South Wales, where 23 per cent of those surveyed said they could not afford mobile or internet plans at home.
"Telecommunications was certainly in the top five nominated areas of the most significant expenditure for households," NCOSS chief executive Joanna Quilty said.
"It is now an essential service."
Ms Quilty said with government support services increasingly being moved online, the lack of access had created a digital literacy gap that was especially heightened among older people and those with English as a second language.
"Sometimes the processes are just so complicated and difficult to navigate that it makes it next to impossible to get what you need," she said.
System reboot
A 2020 report, also filed by NCOSS in conjunction with the Reading Writing Hotline, found 44 per cent of Australians had literacy levels that would make it difficult to complete the increasingly complex forms required to access essential services.
All 100 per cent of respondents reported that digital literacy was a barrier for their clients accessing services.
The federal government has recently redesigned the myGov website as part of a broader upgrade, which Labor says will deliver a more user-friendly experience.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said it was part of the Commonwealth's plan to better streamline the public's interaction with services.
"Not everyone is plugged in or online, so we have staff employed to help people use MyGov," he said.
"We will also make sure that public libraries are aware of what's going on and organisations that support vulnerable people."
A spokesperson for Service NSW said it was working to make it easier for the community to access services, regardless of ability or environment.
The spokesperson said customers could also access the full range of services through non-digital options.
