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New partnership formed to Help Young Australians Overcome Digital Educational Inequality

Menchie Khairuddin November 29, 2022

2 min read

Quadrent and The Smith Family create partnership that will see high-quality ex-corporate leased devices such as laptops, Chromebooks, tablets and mobile phones, donated to The Smith Family.

The devices will then be donated from Australian organisations that have signed up to Quadrent’s Green Lease and distributed to students experiencing disadvantage who are taking part in The Smith Family’s Learning for Life program throughout Australia, to help with their education needs.

The Quadrent Green Lease is a circular economy initiative that enables large corporate and government organisations to fund their technology purchases via a lease. At the end of the lease term, they are passed back to Quadrent who responsibly recycle and repurpose the technology, as well as donate a portion of high-spec and high-quality tech devices to the young Australians in our communities that need them most.

“We are thrilled to be able to partner with such a well-known and respected organisation that shares our values of providing the next generation with the tools to be able to participate in a digitally included education,” said Quadrent’s CEO, Martyn Masterson.

“While many Australians take having access to use a laptop, a mobile phone and the internet for granted, 1 in 6 of the children supported by The Smith Family on the Learning for Life program don’t have adequate digital access.

Masterson highlighted that by partnering with The Smith Family and their already established network, they have a chance to achieve an immediate impact on this huge problem by providing digital access that is essential for all students to take full advantage of their education in Australia.

The Smith Family’s CEO, Doug Taylor welcomed the new partnership, and reinforced The Smith Family’s commitment to closing the “digital divide”.

“At The Smith Family, we believe that education is one of the world’s most powerful change agents. That’s why we focus on helping young Australians to overcome educational inequality caused by poverty,” The Smith Family CEO Doug Taylor said.

“We are committed to ensuring all Learning for Life students are equipped with a laptop and have access to reliable internet by 2027, a necessity for a 21st-century education. This new partnership with Quadrent is a significant step in helping us meet that goal.”

The Smith Family has already distributed over 5,000 laptops to students on our Learning for Life program.

Quadrent will be introducing our Quadrent Green Lease initiative at an exclusive ESG event, co-hosted with Deloitte Australia at their Sydney offices and in conjunction with The Smith Family, on Wednesday 30th November 2022. If you would like to attend, please get in touch for more details.

Menchie Khairuddin

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Menchie Khairuddin is a writer Deputy Content Manager at Akolade and content producer for Third Sector News. She is passionate about social affairs specifically in mixed, multicultural heritage and not-for-profit organisations.