A report Co-designing and scaling effective COVID-19 communication strategies for young people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Victoria from the Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre and Action Lab Monash University has identified opportunities to better engage with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) young people and organisations who work with CALD young people in future crises. The Social Media Playbook was developed alongside the report and is a new resource for community organisations who want to improve how they engage with multicultural young people in digital spaces.
The report drew on interviews with culturally and linguistically diverse young people (aged 18-25) and with community organisations who work with young people with the aim of better understanding the information needs and digital engagement of this cohort during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report found that:
- There is a need to begin by understanding the existing digital literacies and capabilities, language preference and information consumption habits of multicultural young people.
- Including CALD young people in the design, representation and delivery of communications and messaging is critical to their effectiveness.
- Providing training opportunities in digital technologies, research, communication and engagement supports young people being able to participate in the design and delivery of information to their communities.
- A horizontal or peer-to-peer model of learning and engagement can build connections with hardly reached cohorts.
- Co-designing communications with organisations will better reflect lived experiences and digital capacities.
The Social Media Playbook was the result of a collaboration between researchers and five multicultural organisations who work with young people. The playbook is an innovative online guide that organisations can use to understand social and digital media spaces used by young people. The playbook will be useful for government and community organisations who want to increase the participation of young people and amplify their voices in on digital platforms and channels.
Following the findings of this report the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing has launched the Multicultural Communications Outreach Program to fund community-led and co-designed communications initiatives and upskilling opportunities.
Report link: