REGIONAL REFUGEE SETTLEMENT FORUM

LEARNING FROM THE PAST, PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
The Regional Refugee Settlement Forum and Roundtable focus on the settlement of humanitarian migrants
in regional Australia and were held on 12 & 15 of October 2021.
 
These bring together key stakeholders to consider knowledge gaps, challenges and
opportunities affecting the diverse processes and experiences of humanitarian migrant settlement
in regional Australia.

Review the program covered or view the recordings of the sessions below. 

Please note that due to ongoing uncertainty with COVID restrictions, this event was held completely Online.  
Special Guest Speakers



Alison Larkins, Commonwealth Coordinator-General for Migrant Services: Welcome

Annabel Brown, Program Director at the Centre for Policy Development: 'Where to from here?' Summary Reflections



 
Special Guest Panelists

 
Erika Vickery, OAM: Mayor of Naracoorte-Lucindale Council, South Australia

Sorgul Maho: Former refugee and Kurdish Kurmanji interpreter, Toowoomba

Alison Pitt: Coordinator of the Huon Refugee Support Group, Tasmania

Kwame Selormey: CEO of Melaleuca Australia, Darwin

Zia Ibrahimi: President of the Hazara Community, Mildura
 
Forum

The proposed forum and roundtable offer an opportunity to:
i. conduct a stock-take of key learnings about regional settlement,
ii. deepen the research and practice focus on recognised knowledge gaps, and
iii. discuss and develop practical responses to persistent challenges. 

The Organising Committee intends to develop two outputs from these events: A special issue in the academic journal, Australian Geographer and a companion volume for practitioners and policymakers.
 
Themes
 
  1. Mobilities to regional Australia: bridging the gap between expectations and outcomes
  2. Finding the ‘right fit’ in regional communities
  3. Exploring environmental influences on regional settlement success
  4. Looking beyond a singular ‘refugee’ identity and experience
  5. Moving out of regional Australia

 
Organising Committee
 
Members of the Organising Committee include:
Dr George Tan and Dr Kate Golebiowska (Charles Darwin University)
Associate Professor Rae Dufty-Jones (Western Sydney University)
Associate Professor Natascha Klocker and Dr Olivia Dun (University of Wollongong)
Mr Emmanuel Musoni (Great Lakes Agency for Peace and Development International)
Ms Margaret Piper AM
Dr David Radford and Ms Sarah Faulkner (University of South Australia)
Ms Talia Stump (Multicultural NSW)
 
Program

View session recordings on Youtube:
*|END:WEB_VIDEO|*
Session Open and Welcome
Marg and Alison Welcome by Alison Larkins, Commonwealth Coordinator General of Migrant Services

The Big Picture
  1. Rachel Ankeny, Karen Agutter and Daniella Pilla - The University of Adelaide: How can history inform our current and future responses to managing refugee settlement?
  2. Aleem Ali - Welcoming Australia: The Preparedness Challenge
  3. Emmanuel Musoni - GLAPD: Reconnecting to the peaceful past: The journey of refugee led initiatives to regional settlement.
*|END:WEB_VIDEO|*
Forum Parallel Session 1: Finding the Right Fit
  1. Stephanie Rago - Multicultural NSW: NSW Growing Regions of Welcome
  2. David Radford (UniSA), Branka Krivokapic skoko (CSU), Heidi Hetz (UniSA): More than a sign - What does it mean to be a refugee friendly country town?
  3. Lisa Button - Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia: How community sponsorship programs can help establish 'the right fit'
  4. Sarah B. Faulkner - UniSA: The role of place(s) and natural landscape in facilitating belonging during settlement
*|END:WEB_VIDEO|*
Parallel Session 2: Looking beyond a singular refugee identity & experience
  1. Mandy Hughes and Louise Whitaker - SCU: Engendering Social Inclusion through Empowering Practices
  2. John van Kooy - Monash University: Situated welcome: The local inclusion and settlement experiences of refugees in Australian neighbourhoods
  3. Carol Reid (WSU) and Jock Collins (UTS): Settlement Outcomes of Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan Refugees in Regional NSW, Queensland and
  4. Victoria Sonia Di Mezza - Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Services: Aligning Cultural Synergies in Regional Australia: the Afghan Hazaras, Karen and South Sudanese of Bendigo.
*|END:WEB_VIDEO|*
Parallel Session 3: Regional Settlement in Practice
  1. Sue Watt - UNE: Keeping a finger on the pulse: Measuring and responding to host community attitudes in regional resettlement
  2. Debbie Carstens - Northern Settlement Services Ltd: Insights into Regional Settlement in Practice
  3. Devaki Monani (CDU), Branka Krivokapic Skoko (CSU), Jock Collins (UTS): Refugees improving agricultural productivity: key findings from Mount Gambier and Naracoorte
  4. Dina Petrakis and Jacqui Gilligan – SSI: The Regional Entrepreneur: Early Learnings from the customization of the Ignite Small Business Program in New England and Mid North Coast, NSW
*|END:WEB_VIDEO|*
Parallel Session 4: Mobility, space, and temporality within regional communities
  1. Heidi Hetz (UniSA), David Radford (UniSA), and Branka Krivokapic-skoko (CSU): Moving in, moving out, moving on: Hazara refugees finding their feet in Leeton
  2. A. Moran and M. Boese - La Trobe University: Regional settlement at the interface of policy agendas, social and spatial mobilities
  3. George Tan, Kate Golebiowska and Daile Rung - CDU: Understanding the mobilities of humanitarian migration in Australia - findings from the Limestone Coast
*|END:WEB_VIDEO|*
Guest Speaker Panel: What does it take to make regional settlement work?
  1. Erika Vickery, OAM: Mayor of Naracoorte-Lucindale Council, South Australia
  2. Sorgul Maho: Former refugee and Kurdish Kurmanji interpreter,Toowoomba
  3. Alison Pitt: Coordinator of the Huon Refugee Support Group, Tasmania
  4. Kwame Selormey: CEO of Melaleuca Australia, Darwin
  5. Zia Ibrahimi: President of the Hazara Community, Mildura
Session Close and Reflections: Where to from here?
Summary Reflections by Annabel Brown, Program Director: Center for Policy Development
FOR ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT: 

Mrs. Sarah B. Faulkner
sarah.burrage@mymail.unisa.edu.au

or

Dr George Tan
george.tan@cdu.edu.au