Wilcannia is situated on the banks of the Darling River (Baarka) in far western New South Wales. The traditional owners are the Baarkandji river people.

Located in the Central Darling Shire, Wilcannia is approximately 200kms from Broken Hill and 260kms from Cobar, 500km from Dubbo and 970km from Sydney.

The first visit to Wilcannia was undertaken from the 6th-12th February 2022. The RMIT research team worked with community research partner Regional Enterprise Development Institute (REDI) and Team Leader, Brendon Adams, and co-researchers, Shaylin Whyman and Anthony Wiltshire. The team had a highly productive week discussing telecommunications use, digital inclusion and media use in Wilcannia with excellent community engagement by local residents and agencies.

Based on 67 surveys and 25 interviews with residents and stakeholders, this report outlines the summary findings from that initial visit and highlights the digital inclusion challenges that Wilcannia currently confronts. This report is intended to assist community agencies to better understand the key barriers to digital inclusion in Wilcannia and inform potential local strategies through a Digital Inclusion Plan, as well as identify infrastructure and program needs for government and industry stakeholders.