‘I lost hope in humanity, but I now call myself human’: what refugees told us about settling in regional Australia

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:

Every day when I walk the streets of Albury, you see people saying, “G’day. Good morning”. People are giving you a new life or birth – I call it birth because I lost hope in humanity, but I now call myself human.

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

There’s still that psychology that this isn’t actually our country. But I think having a home changes that […] It’s a sense of security.

Another said:

I want to live in a tranquil place […] a quiet and peaceful place where I don’t have to deal with noise, pollution and all that […] I’m very happy in Mildura […] It’s very quiet and small and lovely […] I love it, actually.

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:

It’s just a breath of fresh air, wanting to work, to do the overtime, to learn new skills […] without these blokes, your [business is] dead in the water.

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

There’d be probably four kids in our under-17 football […] To be blunt, if we didn’t have them playing we wouldn’t have a team.

Another noted:

They bring more children for the school [and] the school gets […] more funding for a support person – that’s good for everyone.

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

Like anywhere else once you start to bring in more diversity it enriches a community […] the community is better for it. [There are] new ideas, new things [and] people enjoy that.

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:

I think the homeowners […] are worried, especially when they see many kids, they think [we] are going to trash or destroy, damage their home […] you just know it’s going to be hard.

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.