This report provides a summary of the perspectives and broader feedback received through consultations with culturally and linguistically diverse communities and service providers around Australia, regarding the design and delivery of Australian Government services. The report aims to discuss diverse community perspectives relating to the accessibility and quality of service delivery, highlighting gaps, key issue...

This case study aims to make a contribution to the discussion on rural and regional settlement by providing community perspectives on how access to government services and community attitudes impact new and emerging communities’ economic participation, social integration, sense of belonging and settlement outcomes.

This qualitative study from the Brotherhood of St Laurence illustrates the challenges faced by jobseekers navigating today’s labour market. Drawing on insights from service users in four focus groups with 39 clients from the Carlton, Moe and Shepparton, the report outlines the contrasting approaches taken by Australia’s mainstream employment services and the five Victorian Work...

Settling refugees in country towns is not the answer to dwindling regional populations unless support services are improved, according to Janet Taylor and Dayane Stanovic. In this report they look at the settlement experiences of two recent refugee groups (Iraqi and Sudanese) in the Victorian towns of Shepparton, Colac and Warrnambool.

The debate about the regional settlement of refugees takes place within a number of important and at times conflicting policy arenas: humanitarian goals and obligations, population strategy and economic development of regional areas. In a paper for the Australian Social Policy Conference 2005, Janet Taylor discusses a recent Brotherhood of St Laurence study to explore...