News and Australian Teens: Enablers and Barriers to Digital Citizenship

With debates surrounding teens' social media use reaching new heights, this project addresses the critical yet underexplored role of news engagement in shaping Australian teenagers’ digital citizenship. While teens (aged 13-17) primarily access news and engage with current events via social media, little is known about how this shapes their online civic participation. Using a youth-centred, participatory approach, this project investigates barriers and enablers to equitable inclusive youth participation in society. It develops an evidence-based framework to support teens’ news engagement and digital citizenship practices. Findings will inform policies that aim to increase youth agency to address generational shifts in democratic practices.