Digital technologies have the capacity to transform refugee and asylum seeker resettlement. As such, there is a need to understand how refugees and asylum seekers are using digital technologies during resettlement. Doing so is important to address social needs as well as the material needs of housing, employment, and English language acquisition. International evidence demonstrates that digital technologies have transformative effects for refugees, but the current focus on teaching basic digital literacy skills in Australia limits understandings of how refugees and asylum seekers with proficient skills use smartphones and digital applications to successfully resettle.

This research will integrate digital and ethnographic methods to address a critical gap in knowledge by focussing on the everyday digital practices of refugees. This, in turn, will generate new knowledge on exactly how digital technologies are used on a daily basis and for what purposes. The research will provide a platform for refugees and asylum seekers to share resettlement experiences and will benefit settlement services and migrant resource centres delivering resettlement programs. This research will position Australia as a global leader in providing resettlement programs that equip refugees and asylum seekers with the contemporary skills and knowledge they need to flourish.