“I like to show the world who I am. I am unique and strong, passionate. As a Digital Champion, I like to show that it does not matter if you have disability or not, you can make your dream come true.” Jerry, Digital Champion
Digital Champions teach people how to close the digital divide for people with intellectual disability.
Drawing on their own experiences as people with intellectual disability, and supported by Good Things and Down Syndrome Australia, they have inspired hundreds of people to take action through community, conference and stakeholder presentations so far.
In January 2025, Digital Champions Alanna and Eoin presented for the first time at Valid Conference in Geelong, Victoria. The spoke about how to teach important online safety skills and shared their story as people with intellectual disability using technology.
In October, Digital Champions Chris and Jerry were able to share their message at SXSW Sydney. SXSW is a global festival for changemakers, combining innovation, music, screen, tech, games and culture with thousands of attendees.
We followed along to these high profile events to share their story.
Making Good Things happen at SXSW Sydney
Video transcript
JERRY: Oh my god, it is time. Let’s go. Hey, my mum. Hey, mum!
JERRY: I like to show the world who I am and I am unique and strong, passionate. I started a YouTube channel called’Downs Under with Jerry’. And as a Digital Champion, I like to show that it does not matter if you have disability or not, you can make your dream come true.
CHRIS: I want to become a Digital Champion because I want to help other people to use their devices confidently. So we have a presentation with South by Southwest on I think what’s online and being safe and I can’t wait to do one of the games with South by Southwest.
JESS: South by Southwest is one of those really cool conferences that people really, really want to present at. So, here we are in Sydney and we’ve got Jerry and Chris both traveling to get here to present on this really well-renowned international stage. Jerry’s brought his family over from Whyalla and I think they are the perfect couple of people to be speaking at South by Southwest.
JERRY: Oh, yeah. I’m so excited. Are you excited?
CHRIS: I am.
JESS: The Digital Champions program is one of my favourite programs at Good Things Australia. It is about supporting people with intellectual disability to build their skills and confidence. But the best piece about it is that it’s actually about getting people with intellectual disability to learn and then teach others about what they think is important about supporting people to get online.
JERRY & CHRIS: Hello everyone. Oh, it’s off. Test test. I know that you did. Oh, yeah. Oh, water!
JENNY: In my view, people with an intellectual disability are more vulnerable to scammers, to trolls, to negativity. Jerry’s awareness now through this opportunity has made my job a lot easier teaching him about online safety.
JESS: We know that people with intellectual disability are more likely to be digitally excluded and that means that they don’t have the skills and confidence or maybe the technology they need to be able to participate like everyone else. And so the need is to support people to feel confident to do the things that everybody else does. So, you know, whether that’s buying something online, being able to buy your groceries, or it’s actually just staying connected with your family and friends, we want to make sure that people with intellectual disability have the same opportunities as everyone else.
CHRIS: Just include us. Just include us because that’s what we all want. Having inclusion will help break down this divide and also break down the preconceptions that everyone have of all disabilities including Down syndrome.
JERRY: And we’re not telling stories. We are changing lives.
JERRY & CHRIS: Thank you everybody. Thank you.
CHRIS: In the world that we live in today, we are living in a digital age. for myself. I want to learn more about the use of technology and also show my experiences and I can motivate other people so that they feel more confident using digital technology so that they are confident being safe and also more importantly make them feel happy.
HALINA: From my perspective as a mum, Christopher on this program, Digital Champion he’s became even more confident. He’s more aware and I appreciate that he shares his knowledge with me, with the family. Yes.
JESS: Digital skills are important for everyone today to be able to participate in society, whether it’s just catching the bus or the train or it’s about staying connected with your friends and family. If it’s about learning or it’s about work, everything requires digital skills.
JESS: So, if we want to make sure people with intellectual disability are participating in everything in our society, then we need to make sure that they have digital skills.
CHRIS: Thank you really well. Everyone loved it.
JERRY: That blew my mind. That is incredible.
CHRIS & JERRY: Digital champions!
Behind the Scenes: Alanna & Eoin become Digital Champions
Video transcript
EOIN: I’m so proud of myself.
[Music]
EOIN: I am feeling happy and also excited. I’m so glad to be here in Geelong.
ALANNA: I’m feeling very excited for the presentation today. It’s going to be the first presentation we’re doing with Down Syndrome Australia with the digital champions project.
LIZ: DSA is extremely excited to announce partnership with Good Things Australia on this digital champions program where we are aiming to educate as many people in the community as we can about internet safety and digital safety.
LIZ: Eoin and Alanna are here all prepped and ready to go with their workshop material. We have been in training for weeks and weeks and weeks. We’ve given our guys all of the tools, all of the things that they need to do to get out in the community.
LIZ: We’ve got our presentation ready to go. They’ve had a really, really, really good time practicing their speeches. Energy is high and we’re really excited to be here.
ALANNA: So, it’ll be great to be able to present this today and it’s just very exciting just to be part of this conference today.
[Music]
ALANNA: The first presentation with Down Syndrome Australia for digital champions went really well. We got a good turn up. Participants were very engaging. The presentation we much enjoyed doing and overall a great experience.
EOIN: I’m so proud of myself. I’m so happy to do my speech. I was completely competent.
LIZ: Inclusion in every space is so important to us all at Down Syndrome Australia. So, we are so excited to partner up and give our community members the tools that they’re going to need to to teach everybody how to be safe with technology.
EOIN: It was fantastic. Yeah, I Yeah, I did have fun. It was a great time today. Thank you.
[Music]