Millions of Australians live in households without internet access, according to the World Economic Forum, who have awarded Australia the lowest scoring country in the category of affordability for internet access.

Key points: WEF scores Australia ICT capabilities lowest scoring for internet access

WEF scores Australia ICT capabilities lowest scoring for internet access 57 per cent of households with an income less than $40,000 don't have internet

57 per cent of households with an income less than $40,000 don't have internet Fees for hardcopy documents target poor, elderly, Indigenous people

Fees for hardcopy documents target poor, elderly, Indigenous people Similar overseas efforts have resulted in law changes to protect consumers

As more and more people rely on emails and other electronic forms of communication to pay their bills and receive official statements, many companies have begun to charge fees to people who want documents sent to them in hard copy.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 3 minutes 10 seconds 3 m 10 s Campaign to stop fees for hard copies of bills and official statements Download 5.8 MB

Today a campaign will be launched by Keep Me Posted in Parliament to ask corporations in Australia to reconsider charging Australians for document hardcopies.

Kelli Northwood, who heads the group Keep Me Posted, said it was far from ideal for the mostly poor and elderly who make up the large percentage of Australians who do not have access to the internet.

Ms Northwood said 57 per cent of Australian households with an income less than $40,000 do not have internet in their homes.

"From an affordability perspective, we have the World Economic Forum scoring Australia ICT (information and communication technology) capabilities the lowest scoring country in the category of affordability for internet access," she said.

Ms Northwood said the fees for hardcopy documents target vulnerable societies and she said they are just not fair.

"It's just irresponsible, so we need to call on companies, the big end of town, to put consumers first in this regard," she said.

Ms Northwood said those with the lowest rates of internet access are the poor, the elderly and Indigenous people.

These people need hard copies of bills and other official statements to keep track of their business and they are increasingly being forced to pay for them.

"We've seen some companies come out with $1.25, $1.75, $2.50, $3.20 - it's getting up into the top end," Ms Northwood said.

Keep Me Posted Campaign was set up to get rid of these fees, Ms Northwood said.

The Keep Me Posted Campaign has the backing of aged care groups, unions and politicians, including the independent Senator Nick Xenophon.

"I mean the fact that there are 4 million Australians who live in households without internet access is a big issue," Senator Xenophon said.

"Why should these people, particularly senior citizens, be impacted in this way?

"It really does seem to be quite discriminatory and counterproductive."

The Keep Me Posted campaign says similar efforts in countries including Canada, Germany and France have resulted in law changes to protect consumers from charges for billing or statement information.