No poverty Digital mentoring program

Project summary 

Two groups hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia were international students and retirees. The economic impacts and loss of casual work threw many international students into poverty, struggling to afford rent and food. The impact for elderly people was very different. Overnight everyday life involved QR codes, digital vaccine passports, lockdowns and the pivot to on-line shopping. Many low-income elderly people, already economically disadvantaged were simply locked out of everyday activities. Even the process of booking and registering for a COVID-19 vaccine became an insurmountable technological barrier for many.   

The solution was to put these two groups together. A project founded by the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion teamed up residents over the age of 55 from the inner city suburb of Glebe, neighbouring the UTS main campus, with tech savvy UTS international students. The students were paid to work collaboratively with their assigned retiree partner to build the digital skills required to participate in the post COVID-19 world, transferring knowledge and skills that young people take for granted such as registering on-line for services, accessing government services online, shopping online, etc. The project provided student mentors with valuable income and their mentees with new skills and the ability to access essential services.

An added bonus reported by all participants in the project was social connection. Bringing the two together not only helped overcome social isolation and exclusion for everyone involved, but also gave both groups valuable cultural insights and experience. Few international students ever get the opportunity to get to know elderly Australians, while one pensioner reported; ‘I’d never met someone from Bangladesh before – a cultural difference which is absolutely delightful.”

The Glebe Digital Mentoring Program succeeded in bring both of these groups together to provide mutual benefit, increasing digital literacy confidence and skill in older residents, while offering income and experience for student mentors.

Project timeframe

2020 – 2021

SDG targets addressed by this project

No poverty:

1.5 – By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters.

 

 

Reduced inequalities:

10.2 – By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.

Back to SDG 1 No poverty