'I Lost Hope In Humanity, But I Now Call Myself Human': What Refugees Told Us About Settling In Regional Australia

(MENAFN- The Conversation) While most Australians embrace multiculturalism, migration remains a contentious topic in Australia. Negative opinions, often unsubstantiated, are regularly aired in public debate.

Our new report, Settling well in regional Australia: experiences of people from refugee backgrounds, uncovers a different picture.

Our team surveyed 628 people from refugee backgrounds in cities and towns across regional Australia. We also interviewed more than 300 people, including refugees and members of the broader community.

Consistently, we encountered stories of welcome, belonging, and regional Australian towns embracing refugee communities – and benefiting from their contributions.

Regional focus

Refugees make up just a small proportion of Australia’s annual migration intake - approximately 20,000 arrive each year through the refugee and humanitarian program.

Refugees are people who’ve been forced to flee their countries due to conflicts and fear of persecution for reasons including ethnicity, religion, gender, political opinion and sexuality.

Historically, most refugees who have come to Australia have settled in major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane.

Since the early 2000s, however, Australian government policy has encouraged migrants and refugees to settle regionally, to reduce population pressure in cities and boost regional economies.

The Settling Well project

Settling Well investigates the impacts of refugee settlement in regional Australia, for people from refugee backgrounds and the communities where they live.

Unlike other large studies on refugee settlement, we focus on regional Australian cities and towns: Albury, Wodonga, Mildura, Nhill, Orange, Cowra, Rockhampton and Townsville.

Our project involves 15 local community researchers who have experienced both forced migration and settling in regional Australia. We also benefit from the guidance of Gumbaynggir, Bundjalung and Dunghutti Custodian, Bernard Kelly-Edwards, around First Nations’ engagement in refugee settlement.

What we found

We found that regional towns generally support wellbeing and belonging for former refugees. Specifically:

81% of survey respondents felt welcome most or all of the time when they arrived 97% said their experience of living in their town has been good 76% of respondents want to stay long term 93% are satisfied with how safe they feel in their town.

One former refugee told us:

Others noted how living in regional Australia makes it easier to learn to drive, find work and buy a home. One told us:

Another said:

Regional towns benefit, too

Long-time locals of the towns where our research is taking place noted that refugees boost the working age population, fill workforce gaps and allow businesses to remain open. One said:

Essential services, schools, and sporting clubs told us refugee communities make them viable. One person said:

Another noted:

Refugee communities also introduce diversity to regional towns. One community member said:

Challenges remain

Challenges include a lack of suitable rental housing, patchy public transport, discrimination, and limited access to diverse higher education opportunities:

53% of survey respondents said it’s hard or very hard to find housing in their town 45% have experienced racial discrimination, often on public transport or at work.

One former refugee told us:

Some former refugees told us they might need to relocate in the future for better housing, employment, or education opportunities, or to live closer to friends and family.

How can these findings be used in practice?

Overall, our research shows that regional settlement is working well in many places.

Former refugees are settling well in regional Australia, many want to stay, and local communities are reaping the benefits.

Efforts from policy makers, settlement practitioners and community stakeholders to address the challenges we have identified can ensure these benefits are sustained.

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