Is Anyone Listening to us? ‘They’re Given Feedback and There’s No Outcomes' Settlement for Newly Arrived Syrians in Regional Australia

ABSTRACT

In 2017 the number of refugees arriving in Australia was double the intake of previous decades. In 2015 the Australian Government provided an additional 12,000 humanitarian visas specifically to Syrian and Iraqi refugees. While Australia has a robust predominantly urban system designed to settle refugees who have a high level of need, the same services may not be well suited or available to the Syrian population who are being encouraged to settle in rural and regional areas. This paper draws on empirical research that documents issues affecting Syrian refugee settlement and builds on existing research to identify keys to successful and ethical regional settlement policy. Initial findings suggest high levels of social capital but limited opportunities for employment and education are thwarting settlement efforts. We argue for working in partnership and promoting ethical social work values to address the challenges facing these newly arrived communities. Social workers and human service educators and practitioners in this space must adapt to the rapidly changing service delivery system. Working alongside refugees, in this case Syrian people, requires both co-production and transparency in order to shift perceptions of their vulnerability and lack of agency in order to foster agency and self-determination.

KEYWORDS:

• Syrian
• humanitarian refugees
• regional settlement
• Australian resettlement

Acknowledgements

We would also like to acknowledge our colleagues Dr Fiona McKay and Ms Holly Beswick for their initial contribution to the project development. We also appreciate the constructive feedback and comments from peer reviewers. We thank the participants from refugee backgrounds for their insights and contribution to this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Deakin University School of Health and Social Development Small Grant under Grant [number SG18-03]. Ethics Approval was obtained from the Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee.

Notes on contributors

Kim Robinson

Dr Kim Robinson (Senior Lecturer), BA, BSW, Grad Dip Women’s Health, MPH, PGCHE, Fellow HE Ac., PhD, has worked as a social work practitioner and manager in community health and refugee services, and she has worked in academia for over 30 years in Australia and the UK. Her Master in Public Health examined domestic violence and service settings, and PhD focused on frontline health and social workers working with refugees and asylum seekers in NGOs and the voluntary sector in Australia and the UK. Kim’s research interests are health and social work settings, human rights, strategies for community development and empowerment of CALD communities. She has published in the areas of asylum and refugee mental health, family violence, and social justice issues with young unaccompanied minors. She teaches into both the Master and Bachelor of Social Work, and regularly presents at symposiums and conferences in social work and forced migration.

Greer Lamaro Haintz

Dr Greer Lamaro Haintz, PhD, MPH, B. App Sc. (Health Sc.) (Hons), BA, is a lecturer in health sciences, public health and health promotion, and has worked in academia for 15 years in Australia. She has a particular interest in cross-cultural health, understanding culture and ethnicity as a determinant of health, intersectionality, and community capacity building for health and well-being, among both Australian and international populations. Her PhD theorised a model of community engagement in sexual and reproductive health promotion in South Africa. Methodologically, she has a strong interest in ethnographic and constructionist approaches, and expertise in qualitative methods.