South Australia may have the most expensive power prices in the country, but it's communication that's dominating budgets.
A new report by the South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) has found that while telecommunications prices had fallen in real terms over the past 14 years, the average household was now spending more on those services.
The welfare organisation found people in Adelaide spent an average of $50.97 per week on telecommunications, while regional residents spent $38.72 on average.
Nijole Naujokas, who is a student on Newstart allowance, said it was hard when people assumed she had ready access to the internet or credit available on her phone.
"Saying to people 'Oh, just go online' is actually really quite ignorant in a lot of ways because you are assuming that everyone has that same access — not everybody does," she said.
SACOSS chief executive Ross Womersley said the demand to have adequate communications ability was hard on many low income households.
"Telecommunications expenditure has nearly three times the impact on the household budget for low-income households than it does in the highest income brackets," he said.
"That simply speaks to the differential in the purchasing power."
Mr Womersley said regional people deserved more support to help them keep pace.
"Digital technology offers the potential to overcome some of the disadvantages of distance," he said.
"[It offers] closer access to markets, information, government services and online commerce, as well as just making it easier to connect with friends and community who may be many kilometres away."
Internet still out of reach for some South Australians
Some 22 per cent of regional households were not accessing the internet at home — including by mobile phone.
In Adelaide, 15.5 per cent of the population weren't accessing the internet from home.
SACOSS has said it wants the issue to be a key focus for the upcoming state election.
It's calling on the major parties to commit to a "statewide digital inclusion plan" or include policies to address digital inclusion, provide free wi-fi for digitally-disadvantaged areas and give free (unmetered) access to State Government websites so people don't have to pay to access basic government information and services.
