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Fact Sheet 97 - Humanitarian Settlement in Regional Australia

In January 2004, the Australian Government announced that it would seek to increase migrant and humanitarian settlement in regional Australia.

An increase in regional humanitarian settlement had been recommended in the May 2003 Report of the Review of Settlement Services for Migrants and Humanitarian Entrants. Recommendation 29 of the Report proposed that the department:

  • seek further opportunities to settle humanitarian entrants in regional Australia and
  • liaise more closely with relevant stakeholders regarding regional locations where employment opportunities exist and appropriate services and community support exist or may be developed.

The department is only able to influence the settlement location of a small proportion of humanitarian entrants. Most entrants already have social 'links' in Australia, that is, family, friends or community.

The department settles these entrants near their social links as this provides valuable social support and assistance in the early settlement period. In 2007–08 around 70 per cent of humanitarian entrants assisted by the department had a link in Australia.

For refugees without any links in Australia ('unlinked' refugees), we take into account their needs, and the services and opportunities available to meet those needs, when referring them to a particular settlement location. For some unlinked refugees, particularly those who come from a rural background or who have skills suited to employment opportunities available in those areas, regional Australia can provide the best settlement prospects.

The department has been settling refugees in regional areas of Australia for some time. In 2007–08 the department-funded Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (IHSS) assisted the settlement of refugees in all capital cities and the following regional locations:

  • Coffs Harbour, Goulburn, Newcastle, Wagga Wagga, Wollongong (New South Wales)
  • Geelong, Shepparton (Victoria)
  • Logan/Beenleigh/Woodridge, Toowoomba, Townsville, Cairns, Gold Coast (Queensland)
  • Launceston (Tasmania).

In recent years, the department has undertaken a number of pilot projects to establish settlement in new regional towns in a more coordinated manner, with the long-term goal of establishing a small but stable core community which will then exert a ‘pull factor’ on other entrants.

The process has involved extensive consultation with all levels of government, preparation of local services and careful selection of unlinked families with strong settlement prospects within the existing caseload. Around ten families are settled during the ‘pilot’ phase, generally a year, after which an evaluation is undertaken to determine whether settlement should continue.

To date, pilots have been undertaken in Mount Gambier (SA) with Burmese, in Shepparton with Congolese and in Ballarat (Victoria) with Togolese, with around ten families settled in each location.

Further Information

Further information about settlement services for migrants and humanitarian entrants, is available from the department's Living in Australia section of the department's website.
See: www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/index.htm

Evaluations of the regional settlement pilots are available on the Department’s website.
See:
Shepparton Regional Humanitarian Settlement Pilot (308KB PDF file)
Regional Humanitarian Settlement Pilot Mount Gambier (425KB PDF file)
Regional Humanitarian Settlement Pilot Ballarat (497KB PDF file)

Further information is available on the department's web site.
See: www.immi.gov.au

The department also operates a national telephone service inquiry line.
Telephone: 131 881
Hours of operation: Monday to Friday from 9 am to 4 pm (recorded information available outside these hours) for the cost of a local call anywhere in Australia.

Fact Sheet 97. Produced by the National Communications Branch, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Canberra.
Revised 26 May 2009.

© Commonwealth of Australia 2009.