Simple modifications to the structure and the placement of these air conditioning units would result in a reduction in noise levels from the air conditioners, alleviate their impact upon residents’ lifestyle and increase Telstra’s sustainablity standing in the community.

Inline with the current focus on carbon emissions, remediation of these structures perhaps in conjunction with tertiary institutions would offer Telstra opportunities to be the recipient of public accolades.

Respectfully,

Georgia Bouris

Thanks for your feedback. I’m really pleased to be able to share with you some of the ways Telstra is helping to ensure Indigenous communities can make the most of communications technologies.

- Telstra’s Indigenous Directorate was established in 2005 to improve telecommunications products and services for remote Indigenous communities across Australia.

- In 2010/11, we signed an agreement with the Torres Strait Island Regional Council to build five high-capacity links and upgrade 15 exchanges to cater for improved data speeds across the islands. We also commenced upgrades to ADSL2+ (high speed Internet) in four remote Northern Territory communities – Kalkaringi, Lajamanu, Papunya and Yuendumu.

- Telstra’s Arnhem Land Fibre Project has seen the laying of over 800 kilometres of fibre optic backbone through tropical savannah terrain from Jabiru to Nhulunbuy. Now, nine healthcare centres and twelve schools in remote communities have access to broadband. Read more

- We promote our dedicated Indigenous hotline in remote Indigenous communities through radio and advertising campaign. Calls to the dedicated hotline are answered by a specialised team of people (rather than an automated voice recognition system) who understand the unique issues confronting remote communities.

- We provide support for Indigenous communities through contributions to community development programmes. For example in 2010/11, we provided $2.6 million in funding, which included continued support for One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Australia. OLPC is an organisation that provides remote primary school students with a purpose-built XO laptop and access to educational programmes and connects them, through the internet, to the rest of the world. In November 2010, we called on all Australians to support this initiative through an SMS campaign. The 50,000 texts received translated to the provision of 500 laptops to children in remote communities. Since May 2009, OLPC Australia has deployed more than 5,000 laptops across 85 remote communities.

- In 2010, the Telstra Foundation announced $3.5 million in grants to five Indigenous led organisations, united in their commitment to make a positive difference to the education outcomes of Indigenous children’s lives.

Our commitment to Indigenous Australians not only covers our customers and communities, it also extends to our employees. You can read more about our all our actions in our recently refreshed Reconciliation Action Plan at http://www.telstra.com.au/RAP or about our Indigenous Directorate