Senator Stephen Conroy announced that contractors were able to install and demonstrate digital set top boxes for eligible households in regional South Australia and Broken Hill as part of the switchover to digital TV.Techlife, in association with Hills Industries and SkyBridge Pty Ltd, has been selected under the Government’s Household Assistance Scheme to carry out in-home assistance for eligible households in the Riverland, Spencer Gulf and Mt Gambier and South-East of South Australia and Broken Hill switchover regions.
“For most people, making the switch to digital television is straightforward and inexpensive. However, the Government recognises that some Australians, particularly the elderly, people with disabilities and their carers, may require assistance to switch to digital TV,” said Conroy.
“The assistance scheme will potentially help up to 29,000 eligible households in the regional South Australia and Broken Hill television licence area to access digital TV before analogue TV signals are switched off on 15 December 2010,” added Conroy.
A household will be eligible for the scheme where they own a functioning TV, do not already access to digital TV and at least one or more of its residents are in receipt of the maximum rate of the: Age Pension; Disability Support Pension; Carer Payment; or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Service Pension or the DVA income-support supplement payment.
Under the Household Assistance Scheme, eligible households will at no cost: receive a high-definition set-top box; have the set-top box installed and its operation demonstrated; and have any necessary antenna and cabling work performed, if eligible and required.
“The high-definition set-top box will be specifically chosen to ensure that it meets the needs of the elderly and people with a disability,” Senator Conroy said.
The Executive Director of the Digital Switchover Taskforce, Andy Townend, said a majority of households in the regional South Australia and Broken Hill areas have already switched to digital TV. More than 2,200 households in the Mildura/Sunraysia region have been switched to digital TV through the Scheme in the lead-up to the analog TV signals being turned off for good in that region on 30 June.
