A whole-of-community approach: local community responses to refugee settlement–integration in rural Australia

Humanitarian migrants are moving to rural areas in Australia in increasing numbers, where it is often local communities who take responsibility for their settlement–integration. Current models acknowledge that settlement–integration is a two-way process between humanitarian migrants and the rural community but remain overly focused on the actions of humanitarian migrants while neglecting the conditions of rural communities. This article discusses the case study of a rural Australian town where humanitarian migrants, Hazaras from Afghanistan, have settled over the past decade. We draw on Jenny Phillimore’s ‘Five domains of opportunity structures’ model of settlement-integration – locality, discourse, relations, structure and initiatives and support – to explore how local government, the mayor and volunteer refugee/migrant support groups facilitate a welcoming community. The case study provides evidence for Phillimore’s ‘opportunity structures’ as effective conditions for positive humanitarian migrant settlement–integration in a rural context. Through the lens of Phillimore’s opportunity structures, we operationalise a Whole-of-Community concept in the context of rural humanitarian settlement–integration.