Financial and digital inclusion plays an essential role in building a better society. Therefore, the Victorian Women’s Trust’s Rural Women Online project launched this year. It was co-funded by the Foundation and the Helen McPherson Smith Trust.
The main goal of Rural Women Online is to fast-track women’s IT ability. They aim to advocate for reliable, affordable, and fast access to data connectivity. The program helps rural women, and those impacted by bushfires, to connect online by fast tracking their access to IT training, support, and mentoring.
There are three key pillars to the project
- How to guides are available.
- A real time helpdesk is operating via an 1800 free call number for women’s tech related questions.
- Mentoring - 300 selected women will have an opportunity to be mentored for up to 30 hours of IT support.
Rural Women Online are actively seeking IT savvy women as mentors through corporations, VWT networks, and the public. Each mentor must sign on and undertake a police check through the not-for-profit CrimCheck agency - paid for by the Rural Women Online program.
For more information about empowering rural women to learn digital skills, visit Rural Women Online.