Fostering Global Digital Citizenship: Diaspora Youth in a Connected World report launch

We are pleased to invite you to the launch of the final report on the 'Fostering Global Digital Citizenship: Diaspora Youth in a Connected World' project. Please join us for a 30-minute report presentation followed by a 15-minute panel discussion and brief Q and A. The panel will feature stakeholders who support young people's digital citizenship and invited guests from academia. After the main event food and drinks will be served. All welcome, but registration is essential.

Fostering Global Digital Citizenship: Diaspora Youth in a Connected World - Project Report

This report presents findings from an Australian Research Council funded project examining gaps and opportunities in designing and teaching digital citizenship for a culturally diverse student population. With over 45% of young people in Australia having at least one parent born overseas, this generation represents the most culturally diverse in the nation’s history (MYAN, 2025). This makes understanding the digital and civic opportunities and needs of this generation and how to harness and further their skills as digital citizens an urgent priority for researchers, educators, and policymakers.

The project builds on previous research which has found that digital citizenship education has not always been inclusive of the needs and aspirations of Australia’s culturally diverse youth. In this report, we focus on young people of migrant background who maintain connections with transnational family and diaspora communities using digital and social media. This project aims to centre their voices and agency by asking what it is that they do in their everyday digital media practices – not just as individuals but as participants in globally connected diaspora communities- that fosters their digital citizenship. By asking this question, we also aim to understand whether migrant background young people's digital experiences, practices and aspirations align with or depart from how digital citizenship is framed in policy and taught in Australian schools. 

Further, the project brings to light the challenges faced by policymakers and educators who are responsible for designing and delivering digital citizenship education and offers practical ways to create digital citizenship policy and resources that are more inclusive and responsive to the experiences of migrant background youth. Based on the evidence gathered in this report from both young people and the stakeholders who support their digital citizenship, we make recommendations for how educators and policymakers can incorporate the findings into their own work to foster more equitable and inclusive digital citizenship education.

Project Team:

Amelia Johns - Chief Investigator

Anita Harris - Chief Investigator

Gilbert Caluya - Chief Investigator

Jessica Walton - Chief Investigator

Emily Booth - Postdoctoral Researcher

Patricia Alves - Postdoctoral Researcher

Alexandra Lee - Postdoctoral Researcher