e-ACE

The electronic Atherton Community Enterprise, or e-ACE, is Infoxchange Australia's first and longest running digital inclusion project. About 800 households on the Atherton Gardens public housing estate in Fitzroy, in Melbourne's inner north, were awarded free computers with software and email, access to free volunteer-run computer training, and equipment to use in an ICT hub located on the estate which is open and free to use for all residents. A community intranet, available at www.atherton.org.au, is regularly updated by Infoxchange staff, local community services and residents themselves with information of interest to the Atherton Gardens community. For a small fee, residents can also browse the internet.

Without the technology made available to them through the e-ACE project, most Atherton Gardens residents, mainly low income earning and either migrants or the children of migrants, would have not been able to access a computer at all. Local information has been made available in multiple languages and residents are easily able to access local employment and training opportunities through the e-ACE intranet, and connect with their family and friends on the other side of the world. Self-paced training in important programs such as Microsoft Word enabled the residents, many of whom had absolutely no prior experience with computers, to learn vital skills to help with writing resumes and formal job applications.

An independent review of the e-ACE project conducted by Swinburne University researchers Denise Meredyth and Julian Thomas found residents were using the e-ACE network to contact educational institutions, type a CV, apply for jobs, investigate a health issue or problem, communicate with service providers, contact the local Office of Housing with a housing query or access another type of government service.

Learn more at www.atherton.org.au.