Portfolio — 8 April 2026

The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator McCarthy, announced $11.6 million in federal funding to deliver free community Wi-Fi to 37 remote First Nations communities across the Northern Territory, with the Northern Territory Government contributing a further $216,866 to extend coverage to 31 of those communities [TA-260408-infras-2c66b6999512:m122087].

The announcement is drawn from the broader $20 million First Nations Community Wi-Fi program, which targets improved access to healthcare, education and training, and cultural connection for remote communities. It builds on an existing NBN Community Wi-Fi Program that has already connected 23 remote communities across Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory [TA-260408-infras-2c66b6999512:m122087].

The portfolio frames this investment explicitly within the Closing the Gap framework. The Wi-Fi program sits inside a $68 million package for First Nations digital inclusion and is directed at advancing Target 17 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap — the target addressing digital inclusion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people [TA-260408-pmc-4a2a05e6f6ca].

The ministerial messaging positions digital connectivity not as a supplementary service but as foundational infrastructure for closing structural disadvantage, with the joint federal-territory co-investment model signalling an intergovernmental delivery approach consistent with the Agreement's partnership obligations.