This paper investigates the consequences of mandatory use of an integrated ICT-based licensing system on remote Indigenous communities in Australia. It notes that the system is not a major cause of social exclusion but that it further compounds the profound social, economic and cultural influences that alienate remote indigenous Australians. The paper concludes that efforts to address this alienation must focus not just on the ICT system but the whole ensemble of socio-technical relations associated with the delivery of public policy.