World first regional refugee employment study launched

The launch coincides with refugee week, representatives from the three bodies behind the project gathered to announce what it means for regional Australia.

Regional impact and education director of the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) Anna Stephenson said the project will explore regional Australia skills shortages and how highly skilled refugees could help fix the gap.

The project could have benefits for cities like Tamworth and Armidale, which have a large refugee population and a big gap in the employment market.

"There are 80,000 vacancies in regional Australia that really remain unfilled, so we've got a huge amount of vacancies and not enough people to fill them," Ms Stephenson said.

"It's really important that this project shows the way we can better activate refugee talent to fill some of those vacancies."

Ms Stephenson believes Wagga makes a fantastic case study due to it's growing economy.

"It [Wagga] has a track record of welcoming refugees, of being a refugee welcome zone, particularly with the Yazidi population coming to Wagga," she said.

"It is a place that is renowned for providing a welcome both by employers and the community."

The University of NSW (UNSW) Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law and UNSW Business School are also on board with the world first project.

UNSW chief investigator Dr Claire Higgins says Australia has a significant role to play in helping refugees and hopes the study will help identify how to bring refugees from outside Australia's current humanitarian programme into a regional workforce.

"Our question in embarking on this new research project is to say, well how can we best do that in a way that benefits Australian communities and refugees themselves and is sustainable long-term," Ms Higgins said.

"Partnering with the Talent Beyond Boundaries and the Regional Australia Institute, we're looking at how businesses in rural and regional Australia that are unable to fill vacancies with local talent, and potentially hire refugees from overseas."

The project is expected to draw on the experience and research from the Skilled Refugee Labour Agreement Pilot, a program which opened up the skilled migration pathways to refugees and displaced people.

Jemma Bailey is the co-director of Australia and New Zealand Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB), the team behind the pilot project, and is excited to bring the study further into the country.

"It's a win for employers who are facing acute skills shortages in regional Australia," Ms Bailey said.

"It's a win for refugees who are looking for a new home, a safe home and a chance to rebuild their careers, and that's a win for regional Australia."

The pilot study has allowed TBB to create a database with over 100,000 highly skilled refugees.

Ms Bailey says TBB will then help connect refugees in their database with suitable jobs, from there they would go through a regular interview process, which has had plenty of success.

"We've worked to place over 30 employees with businesses in regions across most states and territories," Ms Bailey said.

"The results of the pilot are really proving that there's demand from regional businesses who are seeing the benefits."

Fieldwork for the new study is expected to begin next month, with a final report due to be published in 2027.