How important are digital skills for newly-arrived immigrants?

When Kie Tanaka moved to Australia from Japan two years ago, she knew there’d be a few challenges she’d need to embrace in order to settle into her new home.

Tanaka wanted to find support to improve her English skills so she could gain employment. But she also needed to develop her digital skills. 

To the new migrant, the two areas of skill development went hand-in-hand. Without an understanding of the English language, she couldn’t search for a job online or write a resume. Without digital skills, she couldn’t apply for jobs online or access essential government apps like myGov. Tanaka was facing a catch-22 situation. But few opportunities were available to learn English and digital skills at the same time.  

“I felt very worried about my English skills and how it would impact my digital skills,” Tanaka explains.

Then in mid 2023, Tanaka discovered the new Digital Sisters program, run by Yarraville Community Centre (YCC) through Good Things Australia. 

Digital Sisters is a national program funded by the Department of Social Services that was specifically designed to empower local communities of migrant and refugee women to learn digital skills and gain online confidence.

Tanaka attended four personalised sessions at YCC with a multilingual digital mentor to learn online safety, how to search and apply for a job online in English and resume writing skills. 

“A digital mentor helped me with my English so I could understand the instructions on the program that we used to improve my resume. I learned about fonts and free resume templates, available online. I was so happy with the result. It made my resume more colorful and impressive.”

Tanaka also received help to set up a myGovID so she could then use online government services. “Applying for an ABN felt quite complicated initially. I was intimidated by the number of pages with information and instructions about it online”.

“My digital mentor guided me to the right site to use. If it wasn’t for their help, I would have gone to an agency for assistance and had to pay them. I am so grateful for the help I received through the Digital Sisters program. It improved my ability to get online and provided me with a greater chance to settle into Australia by finding a job.”

Thanks to the English and digital skills help she’s received at Yarraville, Tanaka has also completed Certificate III in English as an Additional Language. She is now studying Certificate III in Education Support and has an invigorated belief in her ability to apply for employment online. 

“Now that I’ve learned so much through Digital Sisters, I feel relieved. My digital mentor helped me to find the confidence within myself so that I could get online safely.”