To investigate strategies to support the secondary migration of refugees to regional and rural towns

There are many towns around the world that have managed to stem population decline through attracting migrants and refugees. Sponsoring families directly from overseas is one strategy, however there are also many people from migrant and refugee backgrounds already living in the same country, in larger cities, who might be interested to relocate. In 2019, Talia Stump visited 20 regional towns in Canada, USA, Germany, Norway and Sweden to learn how they have grown their communities through welcoming migrants and refugees and what challenges they have come up against along the way. “The Right Fit: Attracting and Retaining Newcomers in Regional Towns” report introduces a framework, based on Talia’s findings, for regional towns looking to attract and retain newcomers. It is intended to help people in regional communities, whether they are community members, elected officials, support organisations or employers, step through each phase of the process from planning an attraction strategy through to growing their community. The framework reflects the lessons learned and offers practical strategies that can be implemented in diverse contexts. In towns that succeed at attracting and ultimately keeping newcomers, the broader population sees new migrants as a vital strategy to address workforce shortages and population decline. As is the case in Australia, many regional attraction efforts are initially driven by a smaller segment of the community who are motivated by economic, social or humanitarian concerns. Using these efforts as a catalyst to gain buy-in from influential leaders and build a whole-of-community approach, sets thriving towns apart from the rest. Careful planning, partnerships and coordination helps to ensure the holistic needs of newcomers are considered, recognising that a sense of belonging and social connectedness is just as important as securing meaningful work. Sustainable regional migration requires long-term collective effort, but finding the right fit between what a migrant is looking for and what the community has to offer can pay dividends in so many ways.