Wadeye
Wadeye is a large community made up of 22 traditional owner groups, surrounded by 30 homelands and outstations within the Thamarrurr region. Wadeye has a range of Telstra services (3G/4G, ADSL, phones) provided via fibre optic cable from Darwin, with some uptake of Starlink by key agencies. However, extended outages over the years has resulted in food insecurity and exacerbated social issues. Following recent unrest, many people relocated to outstations, with demand for improved communications services in the homelands.
403km from Darwin
Dinnuman people
2025 Digital Inclusion score
ADII scores range from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the greater the level of digital inclusion. ADII scores are relative: they allow comparisons across different social groups, different geographic areas, and over time.
2025 Dimension scores
We measure digital inclusion across the three dimensions of Access, Affordability and Digital Ability; identified as the key requirements of digital inclusion. Where early research on digital inclusion focuses on questions of access, subsequent work highlights affordability challenges, and shows the importance of digital skills or abilities as the use of online technologies has grown. To understand and address digital inclusion, it is important to pay attention to Access, Affordability and Digital Ability simultaneously.
Community Outcomes Reports
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Wadeye, NT community update report 202626 Oct 2026 Read PDF online |
Summary
The report presents research findings to date, compares survey results from 2022 to 2024, renews analysis with 2024 findings and quotes, and outlines changes in communications and media services and usage during and since visits. The report also presents 2025 Australian Digital Inclusion Index scores for Wadeye relative to national averages. The proposed Digital Inclusion Plan has been updated based on community input and progress to date, as well as planned activities.
Key insights
- Wadeye residents continue to face significant barriers to digital inclusion, however community-led initiatives are seeking to address these barriers through improved Wi-Fi and computer access, skills development and support.
- In an effort to address community demand for digital access and support, partner organisation Thamarrurr Development Corporation opened the Digi Hub and Adult Learning Centre at the T-House in May 2025, which has been well received by the community and provided critical access during the outages.
- There have been ongoing issues with reliability of the mobile coverage in Wadeye, with regular outages during wet season including a nine week period earlier from February to April 2026. An upgrade to the backhaul network would assist with these reliability concerns.
- Consultation is underway on a Rural Living Hubs plan to improve services and facilities in surrounding homelands, with different models being considered to provide access to services and safety for families living on homelands. Meanwhile, there are initial efforts to improve homeland communications including new small cell mobile services in two homelands, a UHF radio network and local Wi-Fi services in some sites.
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Wadeye, NT community update report 202324 Jul 2024 Read PDF online |
Summary
Building on the 2022 Wadeye Community Outcomes Report, this Update Report is intended to assist local and regional agencies, leaders and residents to better understand barriers to digital inclusion, develop local strategies to address these barriers, and support planning and partnerships with government and industry stakeholders. The report also presents 2023 Australian Digital Inclusion Index scores for Wadeye relative to national averages and key findings from our first round of visits to 10 remote towns, communities, and homelands in 2022.
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Wadeye, NT community outcomes report 202211 Jun 2023 Read PDF online |
Summary
Based on 75 surveys and 14 interviews with residents and stakeholders, this report outlines the findings from the initial visit and highlights the current access and use of media, communications and online services and the digital inclusion challenges in Wadeye and the surrounding homelands. The report outlines key barriers to digital inclusion in Wadeye and proposes community-led strategies to address identified obstacles through a local digital inclusion plan. The report will be updated following research visits in 2023 and 2024.
population (ABS 2021)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders (ABS 2021)
occupied dwellings; 5.4 people per ATSI household (ABS 2021)
Research Partner
Thamarrurr Development Corporation
Thamarrurr Development Corporation Ltd (TDC) is a not-for-profit organization owned by the 20 clans of the Thamarrurr region, representing the Wangga, Lirrga, Wulthirri, and Tharnpa peoples. Rooted in the Murinhpatha concept of “coming together to work as one people,” TDC supports traditional landowners in managing their inalienable freehold land under the Daly River Port Keats Aboriginal Land Trust. TDC fosters collaboration among clans, empowering the community to achieve economic independence while honouring their cultural heritage and traditional responsibilities.
Local Research Team
Community co-researchers are employed in each community to support research activities and contribute research findings between site visits. These roles provide local jobs and support capacity building.
Community co-researchers play a central role in the research, liaising between the research team and the local community, providing cultural guidance to the research team, acting as translators, facilitating research activities, identifying possible participants and communicating information to community members.
We’d like to extend our gratitude to the support of our Wadeye co-researchers and research partners:
Honorata Jinjair
Co-Researcher
Vincent Jinjair
Co-Researcher
Teresa Jinjair
Co-Researcher
Veronica Munar
Co-Researcher
Marcus Kinthari
Co-Researcher
Photos from research activities
Mapping the Digital Gap
Mapping the Digital Gap is the first extensive study of digital inclusion and use of media and communications services in remote First Nations communities across Australia. Using qualitative and quantitative research methods, the project is providing data to help measure progress on Closing the Gap Target 17, which aims for equivalent levels of digital inclusion for First Nations people by 2026.
Mapping the Digital Gap is a partnership project between the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) and funding partner Telstra, as part of the Australian Digital Inclusion Index research suite. The research team also partner with local First Nations organisations and co-researchers to undertake on-site research annually in the 11 participating communities.