An innovative Indigenous co-designed initiative is showing what digital inclusion can look like when it is shaped by community priorities, cultural safety, and deep respect for Country.
The Digital Women Rangers (DWR) Program was established in 2022. Funded by Telstra Foundation and CSIRO, and supported by Charles Darwin University and Australian and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) partners, the DWR program is built around a simple but powerful idea – that when Indigenous women have access to digital tools in culturally safe spaces, they can build their skills and capabilities while strengthening cultural knowledge, caring for Country, and leading local decision-making.
Addressing the digital divide in indigenous communities
The program addresses a challenge raised by the Australian Youth Digital Index, which reinforces that digital tools and skills are not always equally accessible, and Indigenous communities and people living in remote areas in particular can fall behind.
Indigenous young people score 69 on the digital skills index, slightly below the national average of 70. They are less likely to have a laptop or desktop at home (67% compared with 77% of young people overall) and are also less likely to say their school or college provides excellent access to the internet (59% compared with 67% overall).
Culturally safe learning environments for indigenous women
The DWR brings together young women rangers, Elders and trusted facilitators in a culturally safe learning environment to learn how to collect, use and share data to make decisions to care for Country.
In doing so, they become role models who encourage the next generation of young Indigenous people to explore digital technologies.
“One of the most powerful aspects of the DWR program is the culturally safe learning environment it creates,” says Telstra Foundation CEO Jackie Coates. “It’s a space where Indigenous women can grow their digital confidence, learning at their own pace.”
Building digital skills: workshops, modules, and badges
Women participate in On-Country workshops, co-designing and completing digital training modules developed specifically for their contexts, and covering areas such as drone use, digital mapping, visual storytelling, and data collection.
Each completed module earns a Digital Badge, awarded through Charles Darwin University.
“The digital skills learned by participants support monitoring and management of important species and places and also provides on on-Country learning opportunities for Indigenous women to build bio-cultural knowledge, digital confidence and leadership to use digital tools and skills to care for Country,” says CSIRO’s Group Leader for the program, Dr Cathy Robinson.
Bininj/Mungguy women rangers in Kakadu National Park, for example, are setting up camera traps and acoustic recorders to monitor and identify birds and animals, recording and mapping data using digital platforms, and applying this data to guide environmental stewardship.
“Together we draw on our connections to Country and each other to provide a safe environment to learn how to tell stories about Country using digital tools and data,” says Cathryn, one of the young Kakadu Rangers.
Core principles guiding the program
The DWR program is guided by core principles:
- It is Indigenous-co designed and guided by Indigenous governance (provided by the Digital Boss Ladies).
- It respects cultural ownership, Indigenous rights, and local protocols.
- It is place-based, acknowledging that communities across Australia are diverse.
- It supports deep listening, two-way learning, and cultural safety.
- It values Elders’ knowledge and ensures knowledge is only shared when and how communities choose.
- It provides ongoing reflection, adapting as needed to ensure benefits for women rangers and local communities.
- And it fosters partnerships that build new knowledge together.
The Digital Women Ranger program’s digital-confidence focus and framing highlights the importance of kin-Country connections in building digital skills and demonstrating the broader benefits of digital engagement.
Learn more about the Digital Women Rangers program in this blog and on the Healthy Country AI site here.
