a b s t r a c tSocial actors in arid regions must develop strategies to respond to available resources, which are scarce, variable, patchy and unpredictable relative to other regions. We explore our observations of relationships amongst people and organisations in Australian deserts using a stylised network model of the structure of social networks in arid systems. Results suggest that temporal resource variability drives increased network density, but with fewer strong ties; sparse populations drive a relatively higher proportion of strong ties, and that networks develop a hub configuration as resource endowments become more patchy spatially. These ideas highlight some issues that warrant improved understanding by actors seeking to enhance livelihoods and local resilience in these extreme environments.Crown

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Based on an evaluation of the inDigiMOB project, auspiced by First Nations Media Australia, this article examines the role of a programme designed to improve digital inclusion for people living in town camps and remote communities of central Australia. Increasingly, Australians are expected to use technology to access health, government, utility, and education services. Over the last three years, inDigiMOB has been testing a model using local "Digital Mentors" to support a transfer of essential digital skills and knowledge to community members. The evaluation identified a number of enabling mechanisms that have led to several important outcomes. These outcomes are employability skills, essential access to technology, and basic literacy, as well as maintaining language and culture, which are supported through organisational structures and relationships. The article concludes by responding to the question: Does the "place" of central Australia change how digital inclusion should be pursued as an outcome?

Education is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality, and lays a foundation for sustained economic growth. Aboriginal peoples of Australia experience ‘overwhelming’ disadvantages across every indicator of social and economic well being when compared with non-Aboriginal peoples. This disadvantage is experienced across all sectors of education, and although Aboriginal students are participating at high rates in vocational education and training, their pass rates and qualification outcomes remain well below those of non-Aboriginal Australians. This paper maps the participation and outcomes for Aboriginal desert dwellers in the vocational education and training sector and relates these to factors such as: (1) compulsory school access, (2) remote area labour markets, (3) the state of housing and infrastructure on discrete desert settlements, and (4) the policy and program initiatives influencing land tenure, income security and labour force status. The provision of education services across desert regions epitomises the tensions generated when the drivers of desert living – remoteness, dispersed sparse and mobile populations, variable climate, geography, cultures, languages and histories – interact with the differing factors that shape mainstream vocational education. Although innovations in program delivery more consistent with learner needs and aspirations can and do emerge, they are often framed as pilot projects or materialise in parallel program interventions such as youth work or land care. This paper explores the nature of these tensions and identifies the characteristics of educational interventions that can improve outcomes for Aboriginal desert dwellers no matter where they choose to live.