2024_Sticky places for regional immigrant settlement

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Sticky places for regional immigrant settlement: A literature review

Leena Bakshi1 | Fiona Haslam McKenzie2 | Julian Bolleter3

1Department of Geography and Planning, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia

2Department of Geography, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia

3Australian Urban Design Research Centre, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Correspondence

Fiona Haslam McKenzie, Department of Geography, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.

Email: fiona.haslam-mckenzie@uwa.edu.au

Abstract

Since 1996, migration-related schemes have directed new immigrants, refugees and humanitarian entrants to regional Australia to mitigate the need for skills and declining population growth in these locations. However, a key concern of these schemes is the uncertainty of long-term immigrant retention in regional locations beyond the stipulated visa category period. We draw on the metaphor of stickiness: the ability of geographic clusters to attract and retain to examine Australian regional settlement literature and identify factors and processes associated with immigrant settlement and retention. Through a systematic and rigorous review process, we identify seven interconnected factors and processes nestled amongst three core themes of sticky factors and processes that attract, enable and impede settlement and retention contributing to the growing knowledge regarding regional immigrant settlement and retention.

KEYWORDS

community initiatives, education, immigrants, local government cooperation or targeted schemes to assist communities, regional

1 | INTRODUCTION

Immigrants in Australia have largely settled in urban centres since the 1947 post-war resettlement, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne (Hugo,  1999; Wilkinson et al.,  2021), rather than in rural or regional areas (Daley et al.,  2017). Common reasons for urban- centric immigrant settlement are community networks, support systems, services and employment opportunities

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© 2023 The Authors. Australian Journal of Social Issues published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Social Policy Association.

(Agutter & Ankeny,  2016). “Global city” (Sassen,  2004, p. 27) status of cities like Sydney and Melbourne and their economic and cultural prominence in the current world economic order are also pull factors (Hu, 2015). Few attempts were made before 1996 to formally address these settlement patterns; however, a policy shift post-1996 has seen immigrants redirected to regional and rural areas with focussed migration-related schemes (Hugo, 2004).

These schemes are informed by policies to counter congestion pressures facing larger cities, stemming population decline in regional areas (Joint Standing Committee on Migration, 2019) and providing much-needed labour and skills to the regions (Argent & Tonts,  2015). In addition, the anticipated outcomes are building, enhancing and sustaining regional communities through long-term immigrant settlement (Regional Australia Institute, 2022). However, while regional migration schemes attract immigrants to regional locations, it is unclear whether these schemes achieve their objective of long-term retention after the mandatory visa conditions have been completed (Joint Standing Committee on Migration, 2019).

Understanding the factors, processes and conditions that support or hamper settlement offers insights into what makes staying in, or moving from regional locations possible (Griffiths et al.,  2010). However, there is an absence of a systematic collation of the extant knowledge. Systematic reviews are helpful when there is uncertainty or lack of clarity about an intervention or policy initiative (Petticrew & Roberts,  2008). We address this gap by systematically reviewing relevant literature to examine the factors and processes, enmeshed in settlement, as explained in the literature. We draw on the notion of stickines s (Markusen,  1996) as an analytical tool to examine the capacity of these factors and processes to create the conditions for long-term settlement.

We understand settlement as a complex interconnected web of personal, institutional and civic factors; conditions; and processes that entail fulfilling a range of needs (Boese,  2015), or the how and what of adjusting (Australian Government,  2017; Joint Standing Committee on Migration,  2017); migrant incorporation or the conditions and processes through which an immigrant becomes a member of a receiving society (Alba & Nee,  1997; Glick Schiller & Çaglar,  2008; Park & Burgess,  1921); and community formation or the processes through which migrant communities are formed (Castles,  2017). Stickiness is employed in this article to elucidate this complexity. This paper is structured as follows: The subsequent section considers regional migration in the context of social and economic changes in regional Australia and provides a broad overview of regional settlement schemes. We then explicate the notion of stickiness and its usefulness in understanding settlement factors and processes, followed by the review method, the results, a discussion of the results and limitations, and concluding with further research possibilities.

2 | BACKGROUND

Forces of globalisation have seen a marked shift, since the 1970s, in “economic trajectories and political strategies of developed nations” (Tonts & Haslam-McKenzie,  2005, p. 4) with the adoption of neoliberalist principles of minimal/reduced interference of the state in all forms of economic life, resulting in the removal of trade barriers, unregulated markets and promotion of entrepreneurship (Thorsen,  2010). In the Australian context, the impact of this shift has prompted a changing landscape in rural and regional Australia through a reorientation of policies toward economic liberalisation and deregulation, supported by all Australian state governments triggering social, economic and environmental decline (Tonts & HaslamMcKenzie,  2005; Walsh,  2018). Structural changes in the Australian economy encouraged greater engagement in global markets, prompting considerable restructuring of regional-rural industries (Rosewarne,  2019), enabled by large- scale technological changes (Walsh,  2018). Centralisation and rationalisation of services by governments aligned with neoliberal policies

impacted smaller communities with cuts in service provision and infrastructure maintenance (Haslam-McKenzie, 2019), exacerbating decline in many regional communities.

In addition, youth outmigration from regional areas to larger urban centres in search of better education and job opportunities (Akbari & MacDonald,  2014; Corbett & Forsey,  2017) exacerbating ageing demographic profiles (Hugo et al.,  2019) further contributed to declining populations in many regional communities (Klocker et al.,  2021; McKenzie,  2012). While regional depopulation is “patchy” and complex with sea- change and coastal regions experiencing increased populations (Forbes et al., 2020), most inland communities show population and economic decline, underscoring the dangers of invoking “one- size-fits-all” policy agendas for regional Australia.

A consequence of these structural changes is the emergence of skilled and unskilled labour gaps in regional Australia requiring an engagement with migration-related schemes (Argent & Tonts,  2015; Dufty-Jones,  2014). This engagement is reflected in shifts in Australian immigration policy since the 1990s with increased permanent skilled, temporary skilled and unskilled migration; reduced family and humanitarian intakes (Collins, 2013; Golebiowska et al., 2016); the pivotal role of employers as sponsors and the introduction of skills lists (Boese & Moran,  2021); and regional migration schemes since 1996 (Department of Home Affairs, 2022). Whereas schemes targeting future population growth, stemming the overconcentration of people in urban areas and dispersing economic development benefits have been around since the early 1900s (Bolleter, 2018), the rationale underpinning regional migration is to ameliorate the need for skilled labour, and stem declining populations through dispersing prospective and new immigrants to regional areas (Golebiowska et al., 2016). These schemes were initiated in May 1996 at the annual meeting of Commonwealth, state and territory ministers of Multicultural Affairs (Hugo, 2008).

Regional migration schemes have since undergone several iterations enabling employers, state and territory governments and relatives to sponsor prospective immigrants with specific skills to nominated regional areas through a range of provisional visas (Department of Home Affairs, 2022). While provisional visas impose mandated employment and residency conditions, they are pathways to permanency (Department of Home Affairs, 2022). Since the early 2000s, refugee and humanitarian entrants (RHEs) without family or community ties have also been settled in regional Australia with location prerequisites that include mental health services, English language classes and pre- existing populations of at least 20,000 people (Department of Social Services,  2017). In addition, depending on the demands and fluctuations of regional economies several temporary visas are available for skilled migrants, students (Temporary Graduate Visas), working holidaymakers, seasonal workers and overseas visitors with eligibility criteria such as employer sponsorship, limited stay periods and age limits (Australian Government, 2021).

Regional settlement programmes are successful in attracting immigrants to regional areas and positively impact population and economic growth (Taylor et al.,  2014). A mandatory period of residence for skilled immigrants and settlement support programmes for RHEs to enable settlement are built-in policy instruments for establishing roots and connections in regional locations (Joint Standing Committee on Migration,  2019). Nevertheless, there is uncertainty on the extent to which these newly settled immigrants are retained in regional areas or continue to stay long-term, or beyond the visa-mandated period (Australian Government,  2014). According to Argent and Tonts (2015, p. 152), “local social capital, sense of place and service provision” of regional communities is impacted when immigrants cannot be retained long-term, and leave after they have fulfilled their mandatory visa conditions. Golebiowska et al. (2016, p. 443) suggest that while there will always be some “unavoidable secondary mobility,” well- designed policies impact long-term settlement and retention. In addition, Boese et al. (2020) argue that migrant movements out of regional locations are ordered by lifecycle events, employment needs, opportunities and characteristics of a regional location.

While there is uncertainty about the long-term settlement, or “stickability” of immigrants in regional locations (Joint Standing Committee on Migration,  2019, p. 6), regional locations also have a lot to offer new immigrants and RHEs in the form of smaller communities, affordable housing and employment prospects (Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2019). Yet, as noted synthesised evidence is absent from extant literature on factors and processes enmeshed in regional settlement of immigrants. We take the view that synthesising such evidence on regional settlement is important in providing a roadmap for enhancing regional settlement policy and practices and documenting gaps in knowledge for further research (Petticrew & Roberts, 2008). Against this background, the key research question for this article was: What are the factors and processes that create the conditions in making regional locations sticky for immigrants according to the literature on regional immigrant settlement in the Australian context?

3 | STICKINESS

The mobilities turn in the social sciences associated with wider concerns of globalisation and the concomitant flow of goods, and services (Urry,  2012) problematises stability, and place (Cresswell,  2011; Sheller & Urry,  2006). Globalisation scholars refer to place through metaphors like “space of flows” (Castells,  1999, p. 295), “liquidity” (Bauman,  2013, p. 2) and “network” (Urry,  2012 , p. 33) signifying moving landscapes, “nonplaces,” or places connected through their purpose (Augé,  1995, p. 94), manifested through “mobility and connectivity” (Amin, 2002). Within this context, cities or the urban in particular become sites of social relations rather than “bounded units” (Amin, 2002 , p. 389). According to Dufty-Jones (2014), this urban- centric view of place in globalisation scholarship fails to capture the socioeconomic transformations in regional and rural economies in OECD countries as a result of changing rural and regional economies and planned regional migration schemes. We draw from Marston et al. (2013, p. 51) to hone in on the specificity of these regional locations and understand place as “sites” “constituted as singularities,” a “collectivity of bodies or things, orders and events, and doings and sayings that hang together.” In addition, we are interested in how these “collectivities” “hang together” by examining the factors and processes that create attracting/enabling/impeding conditions.

In this context, Markusen's (1996) conceptualisation of sticky places is a useful analytical tool. While “stickiness” as an analytical tool has not been used in migration studies, this concept is used in economic geography (Markusen,  1996), management, business and organisational studies (Szulanski et al.,  2016), planning and regional studies (Ray et al.,  2020) and cultural studies (Badwan & Hall, 2020), to examine and understand attraction, keeping and retention. According to Markusen (1996), stickiness is the ability of geographic clusters (Evren & Ökten, 2017), or geographic concentrations connected by “knowledge, skills, inputs, demands, and/or other linkages” (Delgado et al.,  2016, p. 1) to attract and keep. The “stickiness”/“slipperiness” dichotomy is employed in economic geography to understand the presence/absence of “agglomerative forces” (Evren & Ökten,  2017, p. 894). These forces are products of social practices, spatial characteristics and institutional forms (Markusen, 1996) particular to a location and create the conditions for a place to attract and keep, while slippery places emerge when the ability to maintain these agglomerative forces is lost (Evren & Ökten,  2017). This paper interrogates stickiness of place, or factors and processes that have the potential to attract and retain people (Micek, 2008). Attraction is the presence of attributes that pull people to a place, whereas retention attributes are embedded in social, cultural and economic requirements of those individuals (Micek, 2008). In addition, factors rooted in processes of interpersonal connections, local learning, social interactions of a local nature (Asheim & Isaksen,  2002) and

place- specific knowledge that comes from being in and from that place (Malmberg, 1997) contribute to conditions that make places sticky.

Emotions attached to the materiality of a place also make places sticky through objects in a place acting as reminders of other places' past (Badwan & Hall,  2020). Moreover, repetitive practices of inhabiting everyday spaces (Laketa,  2018) produce sticky places. Such practices separate “this side” from “that side,” creating boundaries visible to insiders inhabiting these spaces (Laketa,  2018 , p. 185), highlighting the way power and institutions constitute sociospatial relations (Butler,  2010). S tickiness does not always equal economic or social development (Allen & Hollingworth,  2013); in some instances, the intersection of place with class, gender, ethnicity and education (Harlan & White-Berheide,  1994) may create sticky places of stuckness or a “lack of exit signs” restricting mobility and aspirations, manifesting as “moving away” or “staying in place.” Furthermore, De Haas (2021, p. 17) notes that it is important to recognise that moving or staying is a nuanced “function of aspirations and capabilities,” determined by larger structural forces such as migration regimes; and social, economic and cultural resources available to individuals and families. S tuckness in this context is the experience of not being able to realise a better future (Jefferson et al.,  2019).

Employing stickiness as an analytical tool therefore provides a way to identify agglomerative forces or social, cultural, economic, spatial, institutional and individual processes and factors that create conditions to attract, keep or sometimes thwart or create stuckness in the settlement of immigrants in regional locations.

4 | METHODS

We use a systematic and rigorous review process to conduct a comprehensive search of relevant literature, synthesise the results (Heard et al.,  2023; Petticrew & Roberts,  2008) and present data thematically (Thomas & Harden, 2008; Wolfswinkel et al., 2013).

4.1 | Scoping and search strategy

We commenced with a scoping strategy, developed in consultation with a subject librarian to define inclusion/exclusion criteria, determine appropriate sources and specific search terms and identify relevant research fields to source literature. Articles/texts were identified through Google Scholar, INFORMIT and ProQuest databases, respectively, using search term combinations specifying geographical limits (Australia- specific literature), and time limits (1996–onwards). Frequently quoted grey literature was sourced through Google Search/Google Scholar by screening reference lists of accepted journal articles. In one instance, the author was contacted for a study unavailable through databases ( Table 1; Figure 1).

4.2 | Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Included articles examined singular/multiple aspects of regional settlement, had research aims appropriate to our research question and provided an adequate description of participants, research process and research method. Excluded articles were duplicates and had a limited focus on settlement processes, focussed on Pacific and seasonal workers, working holiday makers (WHMs) and/or internal urban to regional migration ( Table 2).

TABLE 1 Scoping and search strategy.

Keywords Settlement/settle Immigrant/migrant/refuge*/ humanitarian/entrant*/ Regional AND Australia

Related terms Migration/migrate Attraction/retention/retain/ attract Regional Australia

Subject headings Demography, Ethnic Studies, Geography, Intercultural Studies, Migration Studies, Organisational Studies, Political Economy, Psychology, Public Health and Planning, Refugee Studies, Regional Geography, Regional Studies and Sociology.

Search terms “migrants” “immigrants” “migrate” “Australia” “regional” “regional settlement” “refugees” “humanitarian entrant*” “successful”, “attraction” “retention” “settlement” OR “settle”, “migration” OR “migrate”, “immigrant” OR “migrant”, “attraction” OR “retention”, “regional” AND “Australia”, “regional Australia”; (migrants OR immigrants OR migrate) AND (Australia AND regional settlement) OR (migrants OR immigrants OR migrate) AND (Australia AND regional settlement)

Inclusion criteria Document type: book chapters, conference papers, government documents/reports, peer-reviewed journal articles and nongovernment organisation reports.

Exclusion criteria Languages other than English/pre-1996/lack of focus on regional settlement/duplicates/ Pacific Islander/seasonal workers/internal urban–rural/regional/migration

Recordsiden fiedthrough database searches total:(n=13,901)

Google Scholar: (n =1010) [satura on pg.27]

Informit:(n=8045) [satura onpg.35]

ProQuest:(n=4846) [satura on pg.22)

Addi onalrecords purposefully iden fiedtotal: (n=5)

Accept:(n=354)

Removed duplicates: (n=207)

FIGURE 1 Search strategy flow chart.

Scanning for relevance: (n=112)

Metinclusion criteria: (n=58)

Contactedauthor: (n=1)

TABLE 2 Inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Inclusion criteria

Justification

Studies conducted between 1996 and onwards Regional migration schemes commenced in 1996

Examines all/singular aspects of resettling in regional Australia

Includes all articles including grey literature

Includes all migration types related to regional settlement, all migration types related to regional settlement other than Pacific and seasonal workers, Urban–regional migrationrelated literature and working holiday makers (WHMs)

Published in English language

Exclusion criteria

Pacific and seasonal workers, Urban–regional migration-related literature and working holiday makers (WHMs)

Duplicates

Settlement aspects include employment, education, accessing services, needs of the family, participating in the larger community

The earlier literature comprises reports and evaluations of settlement projects. Recent literature often refers to these earlier texts.

A broad view of settlement factors and processes.

Resource limitations for translation

Justification

Temporary nature of the schemes, short period of stay compared with other visa types, organised through bilateral agreements, employer- driven and controlled, persons on these visas are unable to transition to other visa types unless sponsored by their employers. Urban to regional migration: related literature does not focus specifically on overseas-born immigrants.

Repeat articles/texts

Inclusion criteria post removing duplicates—scanning for relevance

Study aims are stated and relevant to the question

Study participants are adequately described

Study method adequately addresses the study aim

Appropriate research strategies to address the study aim

Conclusions adequately address the research question/objective of the report

4.3 | Data extraction and coding

We created a data extraction table in Excel for Windows (spreadsheet available upon request from authors). The first set of information extracted related to study aim, methods, location and sample size. Next, relevant sentences/paragraphs from the original article/text were extracted and loosely coded to identify “important words or groups of words” (Birks & Mills, 2011, p. 9) as open codes representing our understanding of the data (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). These codes were entered into the data sheet allowing an iterative process of constant comparison between the codes and the data. Open codes were scrutinised for similarities and differences in their properties and categorised. As new categories emerged, open codes were recategorised for best fit, after which categories were grouped into higher order codes (Corbin & Morse, 2003) based on themes/patterns until no new concepts or categories emerged (Wolfswinkel et al., 2013). The final step involved integrating and refining the higher order codes into core themes (Birks & Mills, 2011) ( Table 3).

Factors and processes

Social connectedness and belonging

Safety and belonging = participation

Recent settler needs and characteristics

Settling community— feeling safe

What is happening in the data

TABLE 3 Coding example.

Employment and employment- related factors and processes IMPEDER

Initial coding

Impact of feeling safe on retention

Feeling safe gives people, the ability to participate in the larger community and is an indicator of retention

Lack of or limited opportunities

Employment- related

Employment— employment opportunities

Impact of unemployment or lack of employment on settlement

Lack of employment opportunities leading to high levels of unemployment amongst refugees and humanitarian entrants

RESULTS

5.1 | Overview of the literature

A total of 58 articles/texts (55 studies) published between 2005 and 2021 are included in this review ( Table 4).1 The 58 reviewed articles were predominantly published between 2016 and 2021 (41 per cent), mostly journal articles (74.1 per cent), used qualitative methods equally divided between interviews only (24.1 per cent), and interviews and other qualitative methods (24.1 per cent), conducted largely in Regional Victoria (39.7 per cent), with RHEs (22.9 per cent) and skilled migrants (10.3 per cent). Of the 58 articles, 46 (79 per cent) state sample sizes and 3 (5 per cent) articles use secondary data from previous studies. The largest sample size was n = 1175 (Hugo et al., 2006 ), while the smallest sample size was n = 9 (Curry et al.,  2018).

5.2 | Core themes

This review identifies three core themes of attractors, enablers and impeders that create conditions to not only attract and keep but also hinder long-term settlement.2 Seven interconnected factors and processes underpinning these themes are employment-related factors; English language proficiency; the response of the host community; location characteristics, or spatial, and social characteristics of a regional location; recent settler needs and characteristics or personal, family and community-related needs of immigrants; service provision as in community and support services; and social infrastructure such as schools, health services, housing and transport ( Table 5).

5.2.1 | Sticky attractors

Social practices, spatial characteristics and institutional forms create the conditions for stickiness according to Markusen (1996 ). Regional migration schemes attract prospective immigrants to regional locations (Krivokapic- Skoko & Collins,  2016 ), whereas employment prospects determine regional locations (Kivunja et al.,  2014; Nunn et al.,  2021). Employment-related programmes developed by industry and community bodies at the state level (Lyas et al.,  2013), employment offers and opportunities in regional locations are also key attractors (Barrie et al., 2018; Forbes et al., 2020). According to Hugo et al. (2006 ), country of origin influences regional migration, examples being immigrants from India, China and Africa are more likely to accept work in regional areas compared with immigrants from the UK, the United States and Canada. Also, immigrants with trade qualifications are more likely to go to regional locations than those in managerial/professional positions (Hugo et al.,  2006 ).

Social networks, family and friends rather than official government Websites are major sources of immigration pathways and employment opportunities, attracting prospective immigrants to regional locations (Australian Government,  2014; Barrie et al.,  2018; KrivokapicSkoko & Collins, 2016; Nunn et al.,  2021). Family status or being single/married/partnered/ with or without children matters; lifestyle and amenities attract single persons, whereas availability of health facilities and schools influences families with children (Hugo et al.,  2006). Characteristics associated with regional locations like “better life” for children (Bourke et al.,  2019, p. 4), slower pace (Mungai,  2014) and affordable housing compared with cities are added attractors (Barrie et al., 2018) facilitating secondary moves from urban areas to regional locations (Curry et al., 2018).

TABLE 4 (Continued)

aCategories in this section are not complete. See Appendix 1 for comprehensive sample size information.

5.2.2 | Sticky enablers

Social, cultural and economic factors in a location cohere to enable stickiness (Micek,  2008). Strong ties and connections with host communities are important indicators of settlement (Allender, 2008; Curry et al., 2018; Wulff & Dharmalingam, 2008). A regional community's past experiences of non-Anglo immigrants influence attitudes toward visibly different new immigrants (Moran & Mallman,  2015). To this extent, culturally diverse regional communities are

and processes.

Impeders

Employment opportunities are constrained by the lack of:

• skills/qualifications transference and assessment processes (Vasey & Manderson, 2012 );

• limited/lack of opportunities or suitable employment (Mungai,  2014 ; Stanovic & Taylor,  2005 );

• lack of opportunities for young migrants (Joyce & Liamputtong,  2017 );

• specialist employment services (Abdelkerim & Grace, 2012 ; CorreaVelez et al.,  2012 );

• local experience (Barrie et al.,  2018 );

• local networks (Abdelkerim & Grace, 2012 ; CorreaVelez et al.,  2012 ); and

• adequate processes for recognising overseas qualifications/ skills (Abdelkerim & Grace, 2012 ; Australian Government,  2014 ; ColicPeisker & Tilbury,  2006 ; Curry et al.,  2018 ; Federation of Ethnic Communities Council,  2014 ; Joyce & Liamputtong,  2017 ; Moran & Mallman,  2015 ; Samad et al.,  2018 ; Vasey & Manderson, 2012 ). Cultural barriers (Samad et al.,  2018 ).

Discrimination: ethnic background, visible minorities & religious background (Abdelkerim & Grace, 2012 ; Bourke et al.,  2019, ColicPeisker & Tilbury,  2006 ; Moran & Mallman,  2015 ; Udah & Singh,  2019 ; Webb & LahiriRoy, 2019 ).

Enablers

Employers play an enabling role (Boese,  2015 ; McAreavey & KrivokapicSkoko,  2019 ; Wulff & Dharmalingam,  2008 ).

Attractors

Employment Key attractor (Barrie et al.,  2018 ).

Employment availability and opportunity (Deloitte Access Economics and Ames Research Centre, 2015 ; Griffiths et al.,  2010 ; Moran & Mallman,  2015 ; Mungai,  2014 ). Employment opportunities: family members/partners (Hugo et al.,  2006 ).

Role of personal connections and networks in availing employment (Federation of Ethnic Communities Council,  2014 ). Opportunities for career advancement (Australian Government,  2014 ). Lowskilled employment opportunities (ColicPeisker & Tilbury,  2006 ; Moran & Mallman,  2015 ).

Employment availability and opportunity (Boese,  2015 ; McAreavey & KrivokapicSkoko,  2019 ; Wulff & Dharmalingam,  2008 ).

Employment availability/opportunity requiring low skills (Broadbent et al.,  2007 ).

Impeders

English language proficiency impacts:

• language and communication skills (Barrie et al.,  2018 ; Gyi,  2011 ; Samad et al.,  2018 ; Stanovic & Taylor,  2005 );

• creates cultural barriers (Samad et al.,  2018 ); employment opportunities (Abdelkerim & Grace, 2012 ); underemployment (CorreaVelez et al.,  2012 ; Udah & Singh,  2019 );

• young people's ability to make friendships (Joyce & Liamputtong,  2017 ); and

• participation in the wider community (Bourke et al.,  2019 ; Hawkes et al.,  2021 ); access to health services (Mungai,  2014 )

Discrimination against visible minorities from wider community impacts:

• physical, social and mental wellbeing (Butler, 2016 ; Colvin, 2017 ; CorreaVelez et al.,  2012 ; Curry et al.,  2018 ; Vasey & Manderson, 2012 ; Zuchowski et al., 2018);

• building social connections and participation (Australian Government,  2014 ; Moran & Mallman,  2015 ); and

• resettlement outcomes in general (Ziersch et al.,  2020 ).

Enablers

Attractors

FACTORS

Welcoming community (Barrie et al.,  2018 ; Carrington & Marshall,  2008 ; Joyce & Liamputtong,  2017; McDonaldWilmsen et al., 2009 ; Piper, 2007 ; Smith et al.,  2020 ). Supportive community leadership “community champions” (Barrie et al.,  2018 ). Support from volunteers, community groups, churches and schools (Piper, 2007 ).

Coordinated response by industry and business (Lyas et al.,  2013 ).

English language proficiency

Local response

Culturally homogenous communities (Carrington & Marshall,  2008 ). Lack of diversity (Vasey & Manderson, 2012 ). Predominantly AngloEuropean community impacts participation for new immigrants (Carrington & Marshall,  2008 ). Settlement history and impact of previous immigrant settlement on new immigrants (Woodlock,  2008 ).

Service planning and coordination (Allender,  2008 ; Broadbent et al.,  2007 ; Lyas et al.,  2013 ; Wilding & Nunn,  2018 ). Local government as service coordinator (Boese & Phillips,  2017 ; Lyas et al.,  2013 ).

Diverse communities = ease of settlement and belonging (Wickramaarachchi, 2020 ). Settlement history of nonAnglo communities (Carrington & Marshall,  2008 ; Moran & Mallman,  2015 ; Piper, 2007 ).

Attraction of rural lifestyle, feeling safe, small size of community (Bourke et al.,  2019 ; Griffiths et al., 2010 ; Mungai,  2014 ; Nunn et al.,  2021; Stanovic & Taylor,  2005 ).

Location characteristics

High cost of living and isolation (Griffiths et al.,  2010 ). Sites for making social connections places of worship and ethnic community centres (Jackson et al., 2012 ; Jordan et al., 2009 ). TABLE 5 (Continued)

Small size of community = ease of connections (Australian Government,  2014 ; Curry et al.,  2018 ; Wulff & Dharmalingam,  2008 ). Feeling of safety and belonging (Ziersch et al.,  2020 ).

Impeders

English language proficiency impacts service access (Mungai,  2014 ).

5 (Continued)

Enablers

Availability of cultural resources, food and religious practices (Sawtell et al., 2010 ; Wickramaarachchi & Butt,  2014 ).

Celebrating culture and creating cultural awareness in the community (Boese & Phillips,  2015 ; Moran & Mallman,  2015 ).

Family and community networks (Barrie et al.,  2018 ; Curry et al.,  2018 ; Joyce & Liamputtong,  2017; McDonaldWilmsen et al., 2009 ; Mungai,  2014 ; Samad et al.,  2018 ; Wickramaarachchi & Butt,  2014 ).

Personal factors:

• occupation, length of residence and family composition (Piper, 2007 ; Sawtell et al., 2010 ; Wulff & Dharmalingam,  2008 );

• rural background (Moran & Mallman,  2015 );

• feeling of safety and belonging = participation (Sawtell et al., 2010 );

• community leadership (Allender,  2008 ; Barrie et al.,  2018 ); and

• women's role in making social connections (McDonaldWilmsen et al., 2009 ).

Unavailability of English language classes (Hawkes et al.,  2021 ). Lack of understanding of mainstream services (Sypek et al.,  2008 ).

Settlement services (Allender,  2008 ; Briskman, 2012 ; Curry et al.,  2018 ; Stanovic & Taylor,  2005 ).

Access to healthcare (Hugo et al.,  2006 ; Smith et al.,  2020 ). Healthcare: framework of “cultural safety” (Wilding & Nunn,  2018 ). Coordinated health services (Duncan, 2007 ; Gould et al.,  2010 ). Relationships of trust with law enforcement agencies (Campbell & Julian,  2007 ; Piper, 2007 ). Diversity is promoted in schools (Wilkinson & Langat, 2012 ). Local initiatives in English ads Additional Language (Barnes,  2020 ).

Attractors

Family and community networks (Australian Government,  2014 ; Barrie et al.,  2018 ; Nunn et al.,  2021; Stanovic & Taylor,  2005 ).

FACTORS

Recent settlers' needs and characteristics

Service provision

Impeders

Distance from nearest city (Woodlock,  2008 ). Inadequate public transport (Abdelkerim & Grace, 2012 ).

Ease of commuting from regional areas to cities = less need to build local connections (Wickramaarachchi, 2020 ).

Housing:

• barriers for visibly different persons (CorreaVelez et al.,  2012 ).

• paucity of affordable housing stock (Broadbent et al.,  2007; Mungai,  2014 ; Zuchowski et al., 2018). Discrimination from real estate agents (Smith et al.,  2020 ).

Health:

• low level of health practitioners (Sypek et al.,  2008 ); paucity of health services (Bourke et al.,  2019 ); and

• lack of culturally sensitive healthcare (Australian Government,  2014 ).

Enablers

Availability of educational opportunities, educational facilities and tertiary education (Hugo et al.,  2006 ; Wickramaarachchi & Butt,  2014 ).

Attractors

Affordable housing compared with urban areas (Barrie et al.,  2018 ).

Housing:

• access to secure housing (Moran & Mallman,  2015 ).

• housing availability and affordability (Allender,  2008 ; Australian Government,  2014 ; Deloitte Access Economics and Ames Research Centre, 2015 ).

Services:

• paucity of specialist services (Mungai,  2014 ; Sypek et al.,  2008 ).

Availability of recreational, leisure and cultural activities (KrivokapicSkoko & Collins,  2016 ). Sporting facilities (Barnes,  2020 ).

• lack of settlement services (Sypek et al.,  2008 ).

• funding arrangements for settlement services impact availability (Broadbent et al.,  2007 ).

Lack of higher education opportunities and facilities (Australian Government,  2014 ; Joyce & Liamputtong,  2017 ).

Ease of transport to travel back to one's home country (Sawtell et al., 2010 ).

Media's role in promoting migrant stories (Piper, 2007 ).

Positive media stories (Cooper et al.,  2017 ). TABLE 5 (Continued)

FACTORS

Social infrastructure

more inclined to welcome new arrivals, than communities with a “relatively homogenous social [and cultural] structure” (Carrington & Marshall, 2008, p. 125). Welcoming and supportive host communities are central (Barrie et al.,  2018; Joyce & Liamputtong,  2017; Lyas et al.,  2013) to enabling stickiness through social interactions embedded in everyday mundane exchanges (Asheim & Isaksen,  2002). This transpires through assisting new immigrants with English language classes (Lyas et al., 2013), driving lessons (Barrie et al., 2018, p. 29) and positive local media stories (Cooper et al., 2017). Sites enabling social connections are community and childcare centres, sporting clubs, schools, workplaces and churches (Kilpatrick et al.,  2013). Furthermore, settlement services funded by federal and state agencies enable stickiness by providing support services and information for new arrivals (Curry et al.,  2018; Kivunja et al.,  2014). Settlement funding and grants connected to RHEs also create new employment opportunities for the host community in the community services sector (Wilding & Nunn, 2018, p. 2549).

The small size of regional communities compared with urban areas provides opportunities for social connections (Curry et al.,  2018). A shared understanding of place between host communities and newly settled immigrants (Wilding & Nunn,  2018) also enables stickiness (Badwan & Hall,  2020). Expressing “rurality” and “country-mindedness” host communities welcome newcomers, while new immigrants express the same through sharing food and engaging in outward-facing activities (Wilding & Nunn,  2018, p. 2555) enabling social connections. Moreover, celebrations of diversity like Harmony Day, often promoted by local government authorities, are useful in constructing belonging (Boese & Phillips,  2015) and contribute to learning about newly settled communities. Relationships with and support from one's ethnic/ religious community also enable settlement (Joyce & Liamputtong, 2017).

Local “knowledge assets” (Malmberg,  1997) imbue a place with stickiness. Knowing “how to do something well” equips actors “to develop new knowledge in the same or related fields” (Malmberg,  1997, p. 575). Local governments positioned at the “coalface of social relations” between new immigrants and the host community (Boese & Phillips,  2017, p. 390) enable stickiness. Providing immigrant settlement services in regional areas is new for local governments; however, these organisations have experience delivering social and community services through funding grants, or as contractors for state/federal governments (Dollery et al., 2006). Their intimate knowledge of the community and prior experience gives them a greater capacity to engage with stakeholders (Feist et al.,  2014, p. 73), positively impacting service delivery and planning for immigrant settlement (Boese & Phillips, 2017). Health professionals, community organisations and volunteers working together to provide one- stop- shop services are yet another model for coordinating service delivery in regional areas where health services can be scarce (Gould et al., 2010).

Employers enable stickiness (Markusen,  1996) by sponsoring skilled immigrants, managing employment-related relocation programmes for RHEs, as the first port of call for support and advice and “cultural ambassadors” assisting newcomers into the wider community (Boese, 2015, p. 409). Employers also generate stickiness by recognising and responding to new market opportunities generated by immigrants' knowledge of their home countries' markets, consumer preferences and market links (Samad et al., 2018).

Personal and family needs also enable stickiness (Micek,  2008). Whereas employment opportunities attract single immigrants, families with children have a greater propensity to stay long-term (Wulff & Dharmalingam,  2008). Most skilled immigrant families include a skilled partner with career expectations (Wickramaarachchi & Butt,  2014), and gainful employment for “trailing” partners/spouses is conducive to long-term settlement and retention (Australian Government,  2014; Hugo et al.,  2006). Other factors include educational opportunities for children, employment satisfaction, career enhancement prospects (Wickramaarachchi & Butt, 2014), the presence of community networks and rural backgrounds particularly for RHEs (Moran & Mallman, 2015). Length of stay matters; the longer the immigrants stay in a regional location, the greater the chances of long-term settlement (Wulff & Dharmalingam, 2008).

5.2.3 | Sticky impeders

The intersection of place with class, gender and ethnicity can create stuckness or conditions restricting opportunities to realise aspirations (Allen & Hollingworth,  2013). Whereas welcoming communities are sticky enablers, discrimination and racism from host communities toward visible minorities (Ziersch et al.,  2020), and new immigrants from dissimilar religious backgrounds (Woodlock, 2008) create insiders and outsiders (Laketa, 2018). Discrimination impacts participation (Correa-Velez et al.,  2012) and a sense of belonging (Moran & Mallman,  2015) and may result in people leaving regional locations for urban areas (Ziersch et al., 2020).

Employment-related factors also engender places of stuckness (Harlan & WhiteBerheide,  1994). Employers as sponsors control processes of transitioning from temporary to permanent residency, for immigrants on sponsored temporary visas, thereby hindering long-term settlement (Boese,  2015). Moreover, career opportunities and employment parity are stymied by perceptions of overseas qualifications being inferior to Australian-acquired qualifications (McAreavey & Krivokapic- Skoko,  2019). Protracted processes for recognising overseas gained skills and qualifications (Australian Government,  2014) create obstacles to career opportunities.

RHEs face unique impediments to employment ranging from a lack of skills and qualifications assessment processes (Udah & Singh,  2019), interrupted education due to extended periods in refugee camps, discrimination based on visible differences (Ziersch et al., 2020), low levels of English language proficiency and lack of local experience (Stanovic & Taylor,  2005). Employment-related processes for RHEs are hampered by expensive and complex bridging courses and supplementary examinations to recognise prior learning and qualifications (Correa-Velez et al., 2012).

Whereas settlement- enabling specialist services are critical in retaining immigrants and RHEs in regional locations, funding and resource-related issues impede effective service provision (Kandasamy & Soldatic, 2018). Factors such as the small size of immigrant populations (Australian Government,  2014), and funding guidelines, create a service “patchwork” with gaps in service delivery due to divided responsibilities between state and federal governments (Broadbent et al.,  2007, p. 591). According to Bourke et al. (2019), these larger systemic issues impact service delivery in regional locations impeding participation in the broader community.

The capacity of regional areas to meet the complex health needs of RHEs is limited by inadequately funded health services (Ziersch et al., 2020) for primary healthcare, mental health/ trauma counsellors and dental health practitioners (Sypek et al., 2008). While coordinated service delivery models with health professionals, community organisations and volunteers provide timely services, access to healthcare is aided or thwarted by English language proficiency (Bourke et al.,  2019). In addition, access is impeded by RHEs accepting services, whether the services accommodate their needs, the accessibility of a service and the monetary costs of using a health service (Au et al., 2019).

Educational facilities and access to quality education impact settlement. Regional schools have a limited capacity to meet language support needs for students with low or limited English language (Barnes, 2020). Such support is critical for successful settlement and retention (Joyce & Liamputtong,  2017) and varies with funding and teacher expertise in regional locations (Barnes, 2020). While institutions like Technical and Further Education (TAFE) provide skills and qualification enhancement courses (Allender,  2008), access to these institutions, English language proficiency (Golebiowska et al.,  2018) and limited exposure to formal educational settings for RHEs can impede completion (Hawkes et al., 2021).

Lack of affordable housing options, limited social housing and low rental housing stock are challenging throughout regional and rural areas in Australia (Ziersch et al.,  2020) impacting settlement. Other factors are the attitudes of real estate agents, new arrivals' lack of understanding of rental practices and awareness of rights and responsibilities (Federation of

Ethnic Communities Council, 2014; Smith et al., 2020). High unemployment rates, particularly amongst RHEs, high rents and low incomes negatively impact access to affordable housing and in turn immigrant retention (Correa-Velez et al., 2012).

Although community networks are an important source of support and information (Major et al.,  2013) enabling stickiness in creating the conditions for staying long-term, a paucity of networks beyond one's ethnic community (Carrington & Marshall,  2008) creates sticky floors a place at the bottom of the labour market with low chances of upward mobility, or “employment niches” (Colic-Peisker & Tilbury, 2006, p. 409). In regional locations, employment niches in meat abattoirs and agriculture are predominantly secured and occupied by new immigrants through ethnic community networks (Barrie et al., 2018, p. 20), constraining opportunities and corralling individuals into employment lower than their skills and qualifications (McAreavey & Krivokapic-Skoko,  2019). The resultant occupational downgrading impacts settlement and retention as immigrants leave regional locations for better employment prospects elsewhere (Australian Government, 2014; Moran & Mallman, 2015).

In the absence of English language proficiency, the need for interpreters and interpreting services assumes importance. Challenges to accessing interpreters in regional locations are related to accessing qualified interpreters and female interpreters (Bourke et al.,  2019). These challenges impact access to health, education (Bourke et al., 2019), police and critical community support services (Campbell & Julian, 2007). Stuckness in this context is experienced as an inability to communicate with members of the broader community, feelings of isolation and disconnection from the larger community (Bourke et al.,  2019) and a poor sense of belonging (Nunn et al., 2021).

6 | DISCUSSION

Our results suggest three core categories of sticky attractors, enablers and impeders are underpinned by intersecting factors and processes related to employment, English language proficiency, local response, location characteristics, recent settler needs and characteristics, service provision and social infrastructure creating the conditions for regional locations to become sticky (Markusen,  1996) for long-term settlement and retention ( Table 5). Highlighting the specific impacts of these factors and processes by migration type/visa category is limited by the necessary brevity of this paper. While sticky attractors and enablers are enmeshed in creating conditions conducive to keeping immigrants in regional locations, our results also suggest that impeding factors and processes arising from systemic and structural conditions can create stuckness by restricting opportunities (Jefferson et al.,  2019). However, the capacity of impeding factors and processes, individually or collectively, in decisions to move or stay in regional locations, cannot be discerned from the results.

According to the results, employment plays a pivotal in attracting immigrants to regional areas in response to the need for skills and labour (Australian Government,  2021). Whereas the intended purpose of regional migration schemes is to make available much-needed skills to regional areas, systemic barriers related to recognising overseas acquired skills and qualifications against local standards (Curry et al.,  2018), lack of professional support structures and limited access to additional training and supervision (Gyi,  2011) do not always lead to good outcomes, particularly for skilled immigrants (Committee for Economic Development of Australia, 2021; Deloitte Access Economics, 2018). While this issue is not limited to regional locations, residing in one makes negotiating these processes challenging. According to Deloitte Access Economics (2018), immigrants granted a skilled regional visa experience the highest inability to find employment commensurate with experience and skills. Increased dependence on market- driven responses through regional employers and industry in articulating immigrant labour and skills requirements (Australian Government,  2021) and limited government

intervention in keeping with neoliberal principles (van Staden & Haslam McKenzie,  2019, p. 1471) results in skills wastage (Committee for Economic Development of Australia, 2021). These findings are validated by Boese and Moran (2021, p. 11) who note a policy failure when immigrants to regional areas are perceived as “agents of local economic development” without viable settlement pathways. To alleviate these issues, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (2021) offers practical suggestions such as establishing an online skills-matching platform regulated by the federal government, updating occupation codes, transparent assessment processes and reducing the waiting period for unemployment benefits.

In addition, the results point to unique employment barriers faced by RHEs (Udah & Singh,  2019; Ziersch et al.,  2020). Yet again, these barriers are not specific to regional areas; however, the small size of RHE population in regional areas limits the amount and type of support available, impacting long-term settlement (Major et al., 2013). These findings corroborate the results of a review by Lee et al. (2020) that point to the complex barriers faced by RHEs in accessing adequate employment commensurate with their skills and experiences. Tools and strategies to assess formal and informal learning, acquired in one's country of birth, developed by the International Labour Organisation (2020) are worthy considerations. Also, formal and informal mentoring programmes linking new arrivals with host community members are effective in providing new arrivals with networks and local knowledge (Asheim & Isaksen, 2002; Kilpatrick et al.,  2013). An example is the Kaleidoscope project (City of Stirling,  2018) that links newly arrived immigrants to mentors specific to their area of expertise.

The results also indicate the bulk of the responsibility for enabling stickiness and supporting immigrants in regional areas falls on local actors. Policies influenced by neoliberal principles (Haslam-McKenzie,  2019) have devolved responsibility for regional development to the local sphere (Beer et al., 2005). Governance structures of “strong federal, strong state and weak substate governments” in conjunction with limited access to funding and resources stymies the capacity of local governments and communities to “independently spearhead development” (Wilkinson et al., 2021, p. 3). This in turn limits the capacity of regional locations to adequately support new immigrants with appropriate infrastructure and services to enable settlement and retention. An increasing population of new immigrants applies considerable pressure on existing infrastructure and services often unable to meet the diverse and complex needs of these individuals and families (Barnes, 2020). The very conditions for regional locations to be included in regional settlement “economic stagnation, declining populations, and ageing” also limit further prospects for immigrants (Forbes-Mewett et al., 2021, p. 12). The implications of this finding for regional settlement policy are noteworthy, and replacing local population loss with immigrants may not be the answer to populating regional Australia unless underpinned by a larger commitment to change the course of regional economic policies (Birrell, 2003).

The results also note the capacity and paucity of community services in enabling sticky places. This has implications for ensuring adequate funding for specialist and settlement support services. However, a proliferation of short-term competitive funding grants with a high degree of government oversight (Beer et al.,  2005), and restrictive funding contracts from state and federal governments limit the capacity of regional services to meet client needs (Kandasamy & Soldatic,  2018). Moreover, the dominant understanding of migration and settlement as an urban phenomenon in migration research, policy and practice (DuftyJones,  2014) informs settlement-related funding ranging from support services in educational institutions, interpreting services and general settlement support services. The flow on impact on regional settlement-related services relegates them to provide general information and referrals to mainstream services rather than direct service delivery, requiring creative navigation from local services and a dependence on the wider community goodwill (Kandasamy & Soldatic,  2018). Dependence on community volunteers to bridge service delivery gaps in regional locations runs the risk of a shrinking pool of volunteers, burnout due to the complex needs of RHEs in particular and sustainability of services (Sypek et al.,  2008). Supporting

arguments in a recent report by Social Ventures Australia (2022) note that insufficient funding for community organisations compromises the level of service provided to the community and the sustainability of such services.

Furthermore, the results suggest there is a relationship between personal factors such as country of origin, occupational group, industry of employment (Hugo et al.,  2006) and families with children (Kilpatrick et al.,  2013) in attracting immigrants to regional areas and retaining them long-term. This finding has implications for regional migration policy. Wulff and Dharmalingam (2008) argue that country of origin, marital status and children should be a consideration in the provision of regional visas. Targeting regional policy toward particular receiving locations and particular groups of prospective immigrants rather than continuing to promulgate indiscriminate lists of designated regional locations is worth considering to improve long-term settlement outcomes (Wulff & Dharmalingam, 2008). Such a shift could facilitate social and economic benefits for the settling communities and the receiving communities as new immigrants become long-term members of their regional communities.

In summary, the results overall suggest that there is a significant body of knowledge on factors and processes that attract, retain and impede regional retention for immigrants in regional locations. However, the results also suggest there are significant gaps in service provision, as well as structural, systemic and governance issues that impede regional settlement.

7 | LIMITATIONS

The authors acknowledge the limitations of this article. First, the focus on regional settlement factors and processes may obscure the impact of the particularities of visa conditions; however, a review of this nature provides an adequate stocktake of existing knowledge on regional settlement. Second, the findings may be biased by the large number of studies based in regional Victoria and should not be considered representative of regional Australia. Nevertheless, we identify a gap in the literature on jurisdictions such as the Northern Territory, Regional Queensland and Western Australia suggesting further research in these regional contexts is beneficial in increasing our knowledge of regional settlement in these states.

8 | CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this article explored the factors and processes that make regional locations sticky by reviewing the literature on regional immigrant settlement in the Australian context. We drew on the metaphor of stickiness to examine factors and processes that make places enduring for immigrants settling in regional Australia. A review of the extant literature on the regional settlement was conducted through a systematic process. Three core categories of sticky attractors, sticky enablers and sticky impeders were identified. Further research with host communities and settled immigrants in regional areas will focus on enhancing our understanding of what makes places sticky for long-term regional settlement of immigrants from the perspective of these individuals. Given the ongoing (and intensifying) need for immigrants in Australia, particularly in regional locations, stickiness must be addressed as a fundamental concept in future migration policies.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Leena Bakshi: Conceptualization; investigation; writing – original draft; methodology; writing – review and editing. Fiona Haslam McKenzie: Supervision. Julian Bolleter: Supervision.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Western Australia, as part of the Wiley - The University of Western Australia agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the subject matter discussed in this manuscript.

ORCID

Leena Bakshi  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7233-1365

ENDNOTES

1 See Appendix 1 for detailed information on author, research participants/sample size/methods.

2 See Appendix 2 for detailed information on author, focus area, research aim and research outcomes.

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APPENDIX 1

Author, research participants/sample size/methods.

Author Research participants/ research source Sample size

Abdelkerim and Grace (2012)

Literature n = 50 local and international studies

Allender (2008) RHEs n = 71

Research method

50 local and international studies

20 Karen families (n = 71 individuals)

Australian Government (2014) Literature Sample size not clearly stated Not stated Australian and international literature with a focus on regional migration

Barnes (2020) Regional school principals and teachers n = 27

Barrie et al. (2018) RHEs and service providers and wider community n = 43

Boese and Phillips (2015 ) Skilled migrants and resettled RHEs

Secondary data from previous studies; sample size not clearly stated

Boese and Phillips (2017 ) Local government n = 112 (Secondary data from previous study)

Boese (2015 ) Employers, government representatives, local governments, industry peak body representatives n = 35

Bourke et al. (2019) RHEs n = 31

Briskman (2012) Social workers Sample size not clearly stated

Broadbent et al. (2007 ) Host community, service providers, state government and local government representatives, RHEs n = 58

Principals' (n = 2); teachers (n = 25)

Semistructured interviews with stakeholders (n = 20); interviews and focus groups migrants (n = 23)

Draws on research findings from recently completed project in regional Australia (sample size not stated)

Expert interviews (n = 37); newly arrived migrants and refugees (n = 85)

Semistructured interviews eight sites (n = 85); focus groups with service providers and govt. reps (n = 90); employers (n = 5)

Refugee and asylum seeker residents (n = 31)

Not stated

Minutes of reference group meetings; interviews (n = 58); policy documents; press cuttings; other relevant texts (Continues)

Author

Research participants/ research source

Butler (2016 ) RHEs and service providers and wider community

Butler (2021)

Sample size

n = 109

Non-white youth Secondary data from previous study; sample size not clearly stated

Campbell and Julian (2007 ) RHEs n = 83

Carrington and Marshall (2008)

Host community, service providers, local government representatives' new migrants

n = 54

Colic-Peisker and Tilbury (2006 ) RHEs n = 50 (Secondary data from previous studies)

Colvin (2017 ) Host community, service providers, state government, and local government representatives, new migrants

Research method

Participant observations; semistructured and face-to-face interviews with children (n = 63); and parents and schoolteachers (n = 46)

Targeted research from Australia, Canada, the United States and England (draws from previous studies)

Individual interviews (n = 15); eight focus groups (n = 68)

Toowoomba: focus groups (n = 4, 22 respondents); Shepparton: focus groups (n = 4, 30 respondents); individual interviews (n = 2)

Resettlement of ex-Yugoslav refugees' study (2001–04); resettlement experiences of protected Hazara refugees (2004–05): (n = 50)

Sample size not stated Sample size not stated, draws from doctoral study

Cooper et al. (2017 ) Media n = 75 (newspaper articles and letters to editor)

Correa-Velez et al. (2012) RHEs n = 233

Curry et al. (2018) RHEs n = 9

Deloitte Access Economics and Ames Research Centre (2015 )

Host community, service providers, local government representatives and RHEs

Duncan (2007 ) Host community: Service providers and medical practitioners

Federation of Ethnic Communities Council (2014)

Host community, service providers, government and local government representatives and RHEs

Sample size not clearly stated

Articles (n = 64); letters to the editor (n = 11); two case studies

Mixed methods: RHEs (n = 233)

RHEs (n = 9)

Karen families and single adults (not stated); Karen community leaders (n = 2); employers (not stated), school principal (n = 1), council CEO (n = 1), business leaders and service providers (n = 2)

Sample size not clearly stated

Sample size not clearly stated

Forbes-Mewett et al. (2021) Government organisations, NGOs, local businesses and general community n = 21

Gould et al. (2010) RHE Health Records n = 76 (RHE health records)

Sample size unclear/not stated

Local service providers and stakeholders including government and NGOs' (1 consultation); consultations, RHE entrants and ethnic communities (four consultations)

Semistructured interviews (n = 21) local government and civil society (n = 21)

Analysis of RHE patients referred for a comprehensive health assessment (n = 76)

Author

1 (Continued)

Research participants/ research source Sample size

Griffiths et al. (2010) Skilled immigrants, service providers, government and local government representatives+

n = 220

Research method

Skilled immigrants (n = 110), employers and public officials (n = 110)—four regional areas (n = 4)

Gyi (2011) Literature n = 13 published studies Published studies (n = 13)

Hawkes et al. (2021) Host community, service providers, government and local government representatives, RHEs

n = 12

Hugo et al. (2006 ) Skilled immigrants n = 1175

Jordan et al. (2009) Government organisations, NGOs, local businesses and general community

Joyce and Liamputtong (2017 )

n = 23

RHEs n = 16

Kilpatrick et al. (2013) Skilled migrants and resettled RHEs n = 20

Kivunja et al. (2014) RHEs and service providers and wider community n = 26

Krivokapic- Skoko and Collins (2016 ) Skilled immigrants n = 746

Lyas et al. (2013)

McAreavey and Krivokapic- Skoko (2019)

Settled immigrants and service and support providers

Settled immigrants and service and support providers

McDonald-Wilmsen et al. (2009) Government organisations, NGOs, local businesses and general community

Moran and Mallman (2015 ) Government organisations, NGOs, local businesses and general community

Sample size not clearly stated

Secondary data from previous studies; sample size not clearly stated

n = 44 (Secondary data from previous studies)

n = 78

WORB (n = −9); service providers (n = 12)

Survey: Skilled immigrants (n = 1175)

In- depth interviews (n = 13); face-to-face survey (n = 10)

Youth (n = 16) aged between 16 and 25 years.

Skilled migrants and resettled RHEs n = 20

Interviews (n = 26); focus group (n = 3); settlement agencies (n = 2)

Longitudinal survey: New immigrants (n = 746)

Town of Katanning

Ireland (Focus groups— n = 3; interviews— n = 43) with four migrants and support agencies (2005 and 2013). Australia (survey data n = 746).

Secondary data from Vic Health Roundtable 2007 (Government reps— n = 26; University reps— n = 6; NGO reps— n = 8; Ethnic community organisation reps— n = 4)

Interviews (n = 78); focus groups (n = 6)

Mungai (2014) RHEs n = 55

Nunn et al. (2021) RHEs n = 52

Piper (2007 ) Government and nongovernment reps

n = 37

Focus groups (4; n = 35); interviews (n = 20)

n = 52 Karen community members

n = 37; Steering Committee (n = 20); DIAC staff (n = 2), Victorian State Government reps (n = 3), IHSS providers and contractors (n = 4), service providers (n = 5), community representatives (n = 4)

Author

1 (Continued)

Research participants/ research source Sample size

Samad et al. (2018) Employers, government representatives, local governments, industry peak body representatives n = 24

Sawtell et al. (2010) Host community— volunteers n = 14

Smith et al. (2020) RHEs n = 24

Stanovic and Taylor (2005) RHEs and service providers and wider community n = 77

Sypek et al. (2008) Medical practitioners, associated staff and volunteers n = 24

Taylor et al. (2014) Skilled immigrants n = 947

Udah and Singh (2019) Skilled immigrants n = 30

Vasey and Manderson (2012) RHEs and service providers and wider community n = 58

Webb and Lahiri-Roy (2019) Skilled migrants and resettled RHEs

Wickramaarachchi and Butt (2014)

Research method

Local agriculture employers (n = 8); state government departments (n = 5); industry peak bodies (n = 8); and others (n = 3)

Volunteers (n = 14)

Focus groups (n = 6, 24 individuals)

Iraqi and Sudanese (n = 55); community leaders and service providers (n = 22)

General practitioners, practice managers and volunteer support workers (n = 24) in four town

Online survey: SSRM scheme (n = 335); RSMS scheme (n = 612)

n = 30 (females n = 10; males n = 30) of African descent

Iraqi men and women (n = 36) service providers and wider community (n = 16)

Sample size not clearly stated does not provide sample size

Skilled immigrants n = 50

Wickramaarachchi (2020) RHEs n = 42

Wilding and Nunn (2018) Host community, service providers, government and local government representatives and RHEs n = 35

Wilkinson and Langat (2012) RHEs n = 9

Skilled migrants (n = 50)

South Sudanese (n = 42)

Local leaders—community organisations, local governments, Karen community organisations (n = 35)

Mainstream teachers (n = 6); ESL teachers (n = 3)

Woodlock (2008) RHEs Sample size not clearly stated Interviews across the community (n = 16); participant observation; followed up with focus groups

Wulff and Dharmalingam (2008)

Skilled immigrants n = 500 n = 500 (RSMS Survey)

Ziersch et al. (2020) Skilled migrants and resettled RHEs n = 44

Zuchowski et al. (2018) High school teachers, social/community workers, bicultural workers and medical practitioners. n = 10

n = 44

high school teachers, social/community workers, bicultural workers and medical practitioners (n = 10)

APPENDIX 2

Author, focus area, research aim and research outcome.

Author Focus area

Abdelkerim and Grace (2012)

Employment issues for NEAC.

Allender (2008) Settlement factors and processes for Karen community.

Research aim

Produce findings to inform future research and policy pertinent to employment challenges in NEAC.

Australian Government (2014)

Review of retention factors in regional settlement.

Reports the process of “seeding” and settlement of Karen refugees in Corio.

Outcome

Identifies challenges specific to NEAC “English language proficiency, discrimination, pore and postmigration trauma, recognition of previous qualifications, local knowledge and work experience, specialist employment services, transport and barriers specific to women.” Notes these challenges need to be viewed within the larger context of settlement and barriers to settlement.

Provides a list of critical success factors and a model for successful settlement. Include sustainable settlement, community infrastructure and settler consultation; promote new location to settling community; and support from host community and employment.

Barnes (2020)

School leaders and teachers' disposition toward EAL students

Barrie et al. (2018) Civic and social engagement factors that influence settlement.

Understand migrant retention in regional areas (1) within the larger context of internal and international migration, outmigration of local population from regional areas; retention specific to RHEs; placebased approaches to regional development. (2) Presenting critical success factors.

Explores teachers' and principals' beliefs on EAL students.

Identifies critical success factors: employment, family connections, services and infrastructure availability, social connections and welcoming communities. Concludes that the extent to which migration-based interventions facilitate longterm regional retention remains unclear.

Notes the capacity of schools to create “advantageous spaces” with a whole- of- school and local community-based approach.

Boese and Phillips (2015 ) Effectiveness of regional settlement and related policies at federal, state and local levels.

To achieve a better understanding of factors leading to longterm successful settlement outcomes for new migrants in Murray Bridge (SA), with a focus on active citizenship and social participation in community life.

Explores how multiculturalism is experienced, interpreted and embodied by new arrivals settling in regional Australia by settling immigrants and settlement-involved professionals.

This report recommends the following: information for new arrivals, resources for community groups and organisations; support the supporters; using the local press to publicise migrant stories and successes; options for further education; facilitate a connected approach to settlement

Argues that “multicularising” is an ongoing process of engagement and “negotiation” of difference. Includes everyday practices, ordinary interactions and governance (policies).

2 (Continued)

Author Focus area

Boese and Phillips (2017 ) Role of local government in regional settlement.

Research aim

Proposes a typology of local government involvement in settlement processes. Understanding local responses to migration and the institutional context of settlement provides a better understanding of the gaps in coordination and other potential problems.

Outcome

The need for greater intergovernmental coordination, strategic planning and a clear articulation of the role of local government and community sector. Also notes the need for “structural reform within regional and rural local governance.”

Boese (2015 ) Role of employer in regional settlement.

Identify and analyse different roles played by employers of recently arrived migrants and refugees in regional locations.

Bourke et al. (2019) Experiences of resettling RHE's access to healthcare in regional areas.

Analyse experiences of healthcare of refugees in regional Australia in the context of the role of culture in healthcare experiences.

“Nonrepresentative nature of interview.” Does not draw general conclusions. However, identifies five roles employers play: attractors to regional locations, providers of settlement support, hosts/ cultural ambassadors, determinants of future residency and perpetrators of discrimination and exploitation. Notes these roles are visa and location dependent.

Identifies diverse experiences in accessing healthcare: safety and opportunity, difficulties with service access, isolation, English language proficiency and cultural disrespect. Highlights the importance of culture in understanding experiences

Briskman (2012) Social work practice with refugee communities.

Broadbent et al. (2007 ) Relocation experiences of settling community and host community.

Explore social work practice with migrant and refugee communities in rural Australia. Provides reflective practice suggestions for social workers

Outline the key challenges and issues facing Australian communities focussing on refugee relocation projects as a labour renewal strategy.

The crucial role of effective service provision and the role of social workers.

Butler (2016 ) Intercultural relationships between children of AngloAustralian descent and “refugees” in a primary school.

Examine the impact of narratives around refugees in “marginalised social space” and the impact on belonging for young people in regional communities.

That relocation programmes have potential benefits for the relocating community and the host community, but there is a risk of failure. Such programmes are long-term and require financial support, planning and capacity-building components. While driven by local government, these programmes require support from state and federal agencies.

Considers how local youth from Anglo-Australian backgrounds “adopt/disown” these negative narratives in the everyday to develop friendships and increase feelings of belonging and develop friendships.

2 (Continued)

Author Focus area

Butler (2021)

Review of literature on young people's social relationships across ethnic and racial differences in rural Australia, the United States, Canada and England.

Campbell and Julian (2007 ) RHE and police relations.

Research aim

Review the scholarship on young people's social relationships across ethnic and racial differences in rural Australia, the United States, Canada and England.

Outcome

Key theme is the role of “white spatial discourses” in producing rural youth identities and its' impact on shaping the race relations of young people.

Carrington and Marshall (2008) Success of regional settlement programmes and specifics of a place.

Focus on community policing. Provides an overview of issues concerning police and the law in the Australian context as experienced by new emerging communities (RHEs) entrants.

The role of bridging and bonding capital plays a role in settlement comparing two settlement locations in regional Victoria.

Colic-Peisker and Tilbury (2006 ) Employment niches. Focusses on “employment niches created as a consequence of labour market constraints placed on recently arrived refugees.”

Colvin (2017 ) Settlement experiences of students with refugee backgrounds “dynamics of differentness”.

Highlights how understandings, assumptions, attitudes and actions based on constructions of rurality combined with local discourses remarginalise students from nondominant ethnocultural groups.

Cooper et al. (2017 ) Regional print media. Examines trends in how regional newspapers represent refugees and asylum seekers.

Stresses the role of RHE's prior experiences with law enforcement and identifies issues related to education about Australian laws and legal systems in successful settlement.

Higher possibility of successful settlement when host communities are well prepared, have service structures, a history of prior migration. “Bonding capital” enables connections between similar persons; however, it is important to create “bridging capital” or “cross- sectoral linkages” between disparate groups.

Ethnicity, class and visa categories play a part in labour market segmentation. RHEs are the most vulnerable. Employment niches do not reflect skill levels; instead, they reflect “structural marginalisation and disadvantage.”

Explains understandings of difference as fear of the other and of particular ethnocultural groups. “Ethnicity as spice” is presented through performing culture and playing down difference or “sameness.” Also concludes that as more “different” people settle in these locations, opportunities for engagement are increased.

Positive media tone in local newspapers contrasts with negative reporting in previous studies, and in comparison, to metropolitan print media. Positive tone may be related to human- centred stories and community-building role of local media. Stresses the role of local media in challenging perceptions and shaping public opinion.

(Continues)

2 (Continued)

Author Focus area

Correa-Velez et al. (2012) Experiences of social exclusion.

Research aim

Reports findings of a comparative (urban/regional) two-year longitudinal study of health and settlement experiences of recently arrived adult men from RHE backgrounds through four dimensions: social exclusion: production, consumption, social relations and services.

Outcome

This study found high levels of social inclusion amongst this cohort of men. Implications: the need to tackle barriers to economic participation and discrimination, access to education, support for literacy and numeracy programmes and examine best practice regional settlement models.

Curry et al. (2018) Narratives of RHEs and challenges for successful settlement.

Deloitte Access Economics and Ames Research Centre (2015 )

Duncan (2007 )

Federation of Ethnic Communities Council (2014)

Analysis of economic impact of resettlement.

Resettled refugees' health service needs and issues related to access.

Seek to highlight several resettlement difficulties and also seek to explore the resilience and agency of refugees, challenging the deficit discourses that typically characterise refugee narratives.

The “fluid” nature of settlement makes it difficult to determine the point at which settlement can be deemed successful. However, participant experiences note the need to provide ongoing support and services, support services restricted by visa make settlement difficult, narrow focus of settlement service funding impacts settlement.

Assess effectiveness and availability of government services; impact of services on economic participation and social cohesion.

Provides an analysis of economic and social impacts for Nhill and describes factors contributing to successful resettlement of RHEs.

Analyse the current approach in resettling refugees in Wagga Wagga, as a potential model for Regional Australia.

Success factors “employment, local champions/influencers and a prepared host community.”

Areas to be addressed: resettlement relayed new resources from DIMIA, services to target appropriate funding, sharing success stories, developing community leaders and upskilling medical and allied health practitioners

Forbes-Mewett et al. (2021) Localisation, regionalisation and liberalisation in areas of migration and the impact on migration to regional areas.

Provide community perspectives on the impact of access to government services and community attitudes on new and emerging communities' (NEC) economic participation, social integration, sense of belonging and settlement outcomes.

Investigate the perspective of local governance bodies responsible for navigating the nexus of immigration, settlement and multiculturalism.

Recommends following overarching principles: recognise challenges of NEC, appropriate policy responses, innovative approaches to accessing employment and reducing/removing barriers to employment, positive strategies toward community harmony, strategies for community participation and appropriate information.

Responsibility for the negotiating the everyday governance falls on local bodies, councils compete to be known as desirable places by invoking a “multicultural imaginary.” A “deracialisation” and “depoliticisation” of multiculturalism.

Author Focus area

Gould et al. (2010) Newly arrived humanitarian entrants and healthcare.

Griffiths et al. (2010) Skilled immigrants in regional locations.

Research aim

Describe the setting up of a multidisciplinary primary healthcare clinic that responds to the health needs of RHEs.

Address the following questions: information sources used by immigrants to find out about regional locations; factors influencing decisions to settle in regional areas; and factors influencing decisions to stay or leave.

Outcome

Presents a model: streamline early detection, effective and culturally appropriate healthcare and appropriate referral

Identifies the salience of three factors: employment and business opportunities, family, social and cultural connectedness and regional characteristics.

Gyi (2011) Overseas trained doctors in regional locations.

Identify experiences, views, attitudes and perceptions of OTDs or international medical graduates (IMGs) working and living in an Australian rural context through a review of the literature.

Identifies eight specific areas: adequate support, a transparent national registration system, national resource of relevant and current information, a nationally accredited comprehensive accreditation process, supportive community integration to support appropriate professional development for rural practitioners and establish a rural career pathway, a national orientation programme, initiate, facilitate and reinforce a national funding of locum cover for rural practitioners.

Hawkes et al. (2021) Resettlement experiences and challengers of WORB in regional Australia.

Address the resettlement of WoRB to rural and regional locations of Australia by exploring resettlement stressors in this group in a regional location of Australia.

Hugo et al. (2006 ) Factors that make areas that have had little or no immigration attractive to immigrants.

Jordan et al. (2009) The historical and contemporary presence of immigrant minorities, their impact on the built landscape and the role of these sites.

2 (Continued) (Continues)

Examine migrants' responses to questions regarding employment, and living outside capital cities, to assess factors that may attract skilled migrants to regional areas in Australia.

Present the results of research designed to explore the historical and contemporary presence of immigrant minorities in regional Australia through the lens of the built environment.

Identifies the vulnerability of WoRB because of limited English proficiency in accessing everyday basic needs. Challenge the regional settlement plan because of lack of support and health services that are currently underfunded and under-resourced and cannot provide culturally sensitive services.

Employment opportunities, country of birth, occupation status: trades professional, single vs married, education and schooling, services and infrastructure

Key insights: the built environment heightens or transcends inter- / intracultural tensions; and second reflects the spatial and cultural changes in a regional community.

2 (Continued)

Author Focus area

Joyce and Liamputtong (2017 )

Acculturation stress for RHE.

Kilpatrick et al. (2013) Role of organisations and community groups in regional locations in assisting newcomers to build social connections.

Kivunja et al. (2014) Experiences of African refugees in regional areas.

Research aim

Address the gap in the literature by exploring the impact of social capital on the wellbeing of young refugees in regional areas

Explore how organisations and groups in a regional city provide newcomers with access to social capital resources for new migrants to develop connections.

Gain a deeper understanding of settlement experiences of African migrants in Armidale, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour. Guided by three questions: the existence of policies and services; settlement experiences of African migrants; and improving settlement services provision for this cohort.

Outcome

Regional settlement policies need to be well planned to meet the needs of young refugees. Identifies language acquisition, employment opportunities and access to higher education important for facilitating settlement.

Identifies three levels at which social capital is forged: macro—at the level of the regional town; meso—communities and organisations; micro—at the level of individuals

Concludes that government and NGOs should: educate African migrants on mainstream Australian culture; provide local community with cultural training for understanding Africans; encourage the development of informal relationships and networks; employment support, reduce isolation; affordable and appropriate housing.

Krivokapic- Skoko and Collins (2016 ) National longitudinal study of almost 1000 recent immigrants who have moved to nonmetropolitan Australia.

Lyas et al. (2013) Role of industry, community and local, state and Australian agencies in engaging people from CaLD backgrounds to achieve innovative community development.

McAreavey and KrivokapicSkoko (2019)

Migrant entry, participation and mobility in nonmetropolitan labour markets.

Explore skills and qualifications of the immigrants, their employment and settlement experience and satisfaction with services in the communities in which they were living. Study designed to answer: What would it take to attract and keep new immigrants in small regional townships and rural areas?

Present a brief examination of Katanning—Western Australia where successful long-term migrant settlement has been achieved through offering an extremely welcoming and liveable regional lifestyle.

State and nonstate actors exert agency and negotiate different social structures, including legal boundaries to gain access to labour markets in New Immigration Destinations nonmetropolitan areas.

New migrants are highly qualified, they bring significant skills and have a high rate of economic participation. Attraction points are employment, natural beauty and community spirit and idyllic environment. However, inadequate amenities, local services and facilities mediate their settlement experiences and challenge retention.

What works: employment opportunities (skilled and unskilled), lower cost of living than metropolitan areas and voluntary relocation of migrants particularly RHEs have created challenges for service delivery, success is related to informal, ad hoc community and local government responses.

State and nonstate actors exert agency and negotiate different social structures, including legal boundaries to gain access to labour markets in New Immigration Destinations nonmetropolitan areas.

Author Focus area Research aim

McDonald-Wilmsen et al. (2009) Challenges facing rural and regional settlement programmes.

Thematically explores the challenges facing rural and regional resettlement programmes.

Outcome

Presents 12 propositions for improving policy directions: well-planned and wellresourced initiatives have the potential to benefit regional communities; requires a holistic approach that considers both the RHEs and regional development; considers implication of direct resettlement and informal secondary migration; resettlement strategies to be informed by long-term commitment; requires an effective consultation process; a supportive host community; adequately resourced support services; considers a local lead agency; closer links between skilled migrant programmes and refugee resettlement programmes; long-term approach; identifies wholeof-government planning approach; and establishes a monitoring mechanism.

Moran and Mallman (2015 ) Identify key success factors, key points of stress; and lessons that can be learnt.

Mungai (2014) Issues for new refugees settling in regional areas.

Identify key success factors in Shepparton and Mildura experience of integrating multicultural populations: identify key stress points; Suggest how these successes can be replicated in other areas (government and other organisations)

Highlight salient issues for new immigrants from a refugee background in the Riverina region.

Conclude with 22 recommendations summarised as whole- of-government approach; role of ethnic councils, ethnic agencies, religious institutions, local media, sporting clubs, schools and higher education institutions; central role of local champions and leadership; and employment opportunities.

An increasing size of people from RHE backgrounds has led to increased service provision. Health service provision is a concern. Gaining appropriate employment is a challenge and so is isolation because of English language proficiency. Areas to be addressed: service delivery, language services delivery and places of workshop.

Nunn et al. (2021) Understandings of healthcare for R&HE in regional South Australia.

2 (Continued) (Continues)

Report community-based participatory research project exploring understandings of health and care across the life course in a refugeebackground community in regional southeast Australia

The study provides a methodology to explore strategies for sharing Karen knowledge and promoting cultural safety. Recommends a “cultural safety” approach is providing healthcare to refugeebackground communities. Cultural safety approaches can be applied at all user cohorts and allow for diverse knowledge to be acknowledged.

Author Focus area

Piper (2007 )

Settlement outcomes for RHE.

Samad et al. (2018) Obstacles to the employment of migrants in the agricultural, manufacturing and food/meat processing industries.

Research aim

Evaluate pilot Regional Settlement programme to identify key procedural lessons learnt by stakeholders throughout the preparation and settlement process for settling 10 families in Shepparton.

This research on the agricultural, manufacturing and food processing industries in Central Queensland aimed at: • Identifying obstacles to employment of skilled and unskilled migrants; Examine potential socioeconomic benefits of employing migrants; Making observations on policy implications from research findings.

Outcome

Summary of outcomes: Local consultation is critical; designated persons (DIAC) are important; training for volunteers; steering committees and subcommittees; and first settling families matter

The existence of skills shortages in agribusiness. Possibility of employing unemployed immigrants currently residing in urban areas. There is a need to devise policy mechanisms to use this potential workforce. However, recognising that the seasonal nature of the employment poses a barrier to settlement. Migration as a response to the need for labour requires a coordinated and integrated response from federal, state and local governments, industry bodies and migrant organisations.

Sawtell et al. (2010) Role of volunteering in settlement.

Smith et al. (2020) Factors influencing the lived experiences of resettlement for former refugees in regional Australia.

Explore the experiences, perceptions and motivations of a new type of volunteer emerging in modern society, in this instance, engaged in the rural resettlement of refugees.

Stanovic and Taylor (2005) Examine factors that promote successful settlement in regional areas.

Examine the factors influencing the lived experience of resettlement for former refugees in regional Launceston, Australia, including environmental, social and health-related factors.

Provides implications for policy, practice and future research. Policy implications: need to acknowledge and plan for the role of volunteers. Practice implications: need for support, training and debriefing opportunities for volunteers. Future research on such groups to know the effects of resettlement on host communities.

Provides new insights to inform policies relating to health, housing and resettlement services for refugees resettled in regional areas. This includes the need for accessible English programmes, for traumainformed, culturally sensitive service provision and for better enforcement of policies designed to preclude the use of children as interpreters.

Explore the settlement experiences of two refugee groups in selected areas of regional Victoria to examine factors that promote successful settlement in such areas.

The very reasons for population decline as a lack of infrastructure and services are the reasons cited by study participants. Settlement requires support services specific to refugees, specific to refugees and new immigrants and specific to refugees and other residents of regional areas.

2 (Continued)

Author Focus area Research aim

Sypek et al. (2008) Impact of refugees on rural health services.

Taylor et al. (2014) Contributions of the SSRM and RSMS schemes for regional Australia.

Identify critical health service infrastructure to support regional resettlement for refugees, using case studies of four regional towns that have been sites of refugee resettlement.

Outcome

The difficulties experienced by rural Australia in securing equitable access to health services are amplified for refugees. While there are economic arguments about resettlement of refugees in regional Australia, the fragility of health services in regional Australia should also be factored into considerations about which towns are best suited to regional resettlement.

Udah and Singh (2019) Economic integration of black African immigrants.

Provide an up-to- date assessment of the contributions of the RSMS and SSMS programmes for attracting and retaining skilled migrants and their families to the Northern Territory of Australia.

While overall migrants contributed to lowering the age profile of the NT, leakages occur due to the desire to be with friends and family elsewhere, progress careers and education and the high costs of living in the NT. The need for a broader discussion on improving the infrastructure and attracting businesses to regional areas; understanding and responding to intraregional population movements and interactions; and managing processes of change where in inter- and intraregional factors and processes are considered in regional policy and planning.

Vasey and Manderson (2012) Impact of public health policy and practice in regional Victoria.

Examine experiences and views on employment of black African immigrants settling in Queensland.

Examine some of the conditions characterising regional resettlement and raise key questions for public health policy drawing on the experience of Iraqi migrants in Victoria, Australia.

Employment is central to good settlement; however, the adverse effects of discrimination, dual labour market, negative bias and visible difference impact immigrants' integration and employment outcomes in Australia.

Highlights the structural vulnerabilities faced by refugees resettled in regional areas. Low socioeconomic status, language dispossession and insufficient and poor familiarity of health, welfare and other services (e.g. housing assistance) inhibit successful resettlement. These factors compound to reinforce social disadvantage and a poorer standard of living.

(Continues)

2 (Continued)

Author Focus area Research aim

Webb and Lahiri-Roy (2019)

Narrative accounts of identity, belonging and home in settlement.

Wickramaarachchi and Butt (2014) Community attachment, lifestyle satisfaction and economic and workplace satisfaction of immigrants coming under the SSRM scheme

Wickramaarachchi (2020) Sense of belonging in regional areas.

Explore settlement by considering how the concepts of identity, belonging and home are presented in narrative accounts from a diverse range of skilled migrants to Australia, negotiating new identities and ideas of belonging as they seek to re- establish their lives and careers.

Examine residential satisfaction of international regional skilled migrants living in parts of regional Victoria and their views on the decision of staying or moving out of regional areas after completing their required residency in regional areas.

Understand the places where South Sudanese migrants feel “being at home” in Australia.

Outcome

Key issues in terms of identity, belonging and home emerge from a sense of isolation, exclusion and dislocation of status and social position–reluctant migrants. However, those who are “happiest” straddle disparate cultural discourses, simultaneously creating their own unique migrant discourse.

The centrality of employment and economic well-being to skilled immigrants suggests that creating career pathways and employment certainty for immigrants and their families is a central feature of retention.

Wilding and Nunn (2018) Explore settlement of a growing community of humanitarian entrants in an ethnoculturally homogenous regional Australian city.

Explore the settlement of a large and growing community of humanitarian migrants from Southeast Asia in a previously ethnoculturally homogenous regional Australian city.

The current findings show busy urban spaces are grounds for developing relationships between strangers; these places ease the feelings of strangeness and help equalise interactions. this article Suggests having more diverse atmospheres in regional centres to retain migrants in regional Australia. Examples: Sunday markets, restaurants and cafes, libraries and cultural festivals. Such places open negotiation about “different” and provide a supportive and welcoming environment.

The dynamics of multicultural encounters in the regions are different from major cities. Meanings and symbols generated by a community are significant in how a regional community responds to difference. Some of these are celebrating cultural events, new funding and employment opportunities for the host community through settlement-related funding, Karen community and the host community produce a common ground of interaction and encounter based on common values of rurality: vegetable gardens, attending church, camping and fishing.

2 (Continued)

Author Focus area

Wilkinson and Langat (2012)

Implications for regional schools' practices.

Woodlock (2008) Factors impacting the inclusion of Iraqi Muslim immigrants.

Research aim

Report findings from focus groups conducted with mainstream and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers at a previously ethnically homogenous regional secondary school.

Explore issues and examine challenges and successes in settlement and social integration of Muslim settlers in Cobram, Moira Shire in Victoria.

Outcome

Changes in educators' practices require changing not simply the practice knowledge of individual educators such as those at Regional High School, but the practice architectures or cultural- discursive, material economic and social conditions and arrangements that hold these practices in place.42

With initial population fluctuations, there is now a well- established community in Cobram. Assistance for government programmes has helped settlement. Establishing a permanent place of prayer has created a place for community interactions. Acquiring English skills has been a major issue. Other areas of concern are employment expectations and the lack of recognition of prior skills. Mental health-related issues are also an area of concern

Wulff and Dharmalingam (2008) Importance of social connectedness and belonging for long-term stay in regional locations

Ziersch et al. (2020) Examine the social determinants of health and integration

Argue the importance of social connectedness for long-term stay in a particular place and empirically examine the determinants of social connectedness in regional Australia.

Zuchowski et al. (2018) Implications for regional schools' practices.

Explore the experiences of people from refugee backgrounds settling in a rural Australian town and examine interconnections between social determinants of health (SDH) and integration.

Focus on examining the perceptions of professionals working with young refugees resettled in Townsville, a regional city in northern

Fostering of strong social connectedness amongst migrants is facilitated by family context (particularly the presence of dependent children), place of residence (small towns) and the provision of assistance and help on arrival. In addition, time itself is an important factor for social connectedness: the longer one has remained in the same community, the more likely she will have strong social connectedness.

Factors such as employment, education, housing and social connection impact SDH. This is particularly challenging in regional settings. A focus on SDH factors will possibly lead to better settlement outcomes for RHEs.

Themes presented include emotional well-being, adapting to a new environment, schooling experience and living in poorer areas.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

Leena Bakshi was educated in India (Mumbai) and Western Australia (WA), and is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Western Australia on Sticky places in regional Australia for immigrants. She has worked extensively with informal settlements in Mumbai, state government agencies and Not-for-profits (NFP’s) in WA and served on several NFP boards. Leena’s interest includes immigrant societies and inclusion.

Professor Fiona Haslam McKenzie was educated in Australia and the United States. She has extensive experience in population and socio- economic change in population and socioeconomicmic change, housing, regional economic development, and analysis of remote, regional and urban socio- economic ndicators. She has published widely and undertaken work for the corporate and private sectors, and all three tiers of government, serving on several government and private sector boards. Her research focuses on post-mining land usesHer research focuses on post-mining land uses, the socio- economic impact of conomic impact economic impact of different workforce arrangements and uneven economic development in Australia.

Dr Julian Bolleter is the Co-Director at the Australian Urban Design Research Centre (AUDRC) at the University of Western Australia. Originally from Perth, he has worked internationally as a landscape architect. Dr Bolleter now brings his international experience to his role as Co-Director of the Australian Urban Design Research Centre (AUDRC), where he delivers commissioned research for state government planning departments, writing urban design/city-related books, conducting urban design projects and teaching a master's programme in urban design. His role at the AUDRC includes conducting research projects for the Western Australian state government.