Disadvantaged and disconnected in a digital divide MS sufferer Michael Dalli struggles to afford the internet due to his disability. Photo: Angela Wylie Michael Dalli's old black Nokia mobile is ringing, so the 42-year-old excuses himself to answer it. Softly spoken, the wheelchair-bound father of one politely tells the caller he is busy and to ring back in half an hour. Then he apologises for taking the call. "It's a pre-paid phone and I try not to exceed $50 a year," he explains. To avoid using his credit, he always answers his mobile. He has no voicemail, does not text and saves calls "just for emergencies." In the age of smartphones, he also does not have mobile access to the internet. More pressingly, there is no internet connection in his Sunshine West home - he can't afford it. "It's almost like I have a double disability," he said. I have multiple sclerosis, I'm confined to a wheelchair, but I feel like my other senses are also being denied because I don't have access to the internet. Each week, Mr Dalli makes a trip to his brother's house at Caroline Springs to use his computer to find and apply for jobs. A new Anglicare Victoria report finds Mr Dalli is not alone - and that a lack of access to the internet is exacerbating the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Surveying more than 300 people who needed emergency relief and financial counselling services, the researchers found nearly half (49 per cent) did not have an internet connection and more than half (56 per cent) did not have access to a mobile phone. Author Sarah Wise said the report painted a bleak picture of low-income earners' ability to get online. The study found internet deprivation was linked to a lack of access to basic services, including medical treatment and housing. "What we see forming is a digital divide or ghetto," Dr Wise said. Australian Communications Consumer Action Network head Teresa Corbin said recent research showed that despite improving over recent years, a "marked and concerning" percentage of lower-income households did not have internet access. The situation in Aboriginal communities was particularly stark, with remote indigenous households 76 per cent less likely to have internet access than non-indigenous metropolitan households. Ms Corbin said it was time for a debate on new low-income measures beyond simply helping people get a fixed phone line.