The roles of employers in the regional settlement of recently arrived migrants and refugees

Abstract

This article identifies and analyses different roles played by employers of recently arrived migrants and refugees in regional locations. Based on a study of regional settlement in Victoria, Australia, it highlights the scope for employer influences on regional settlement through attracting migrants and refugees to regional locations; the informal provision of settlement support; the role of cultural ambassadors and hosts; the role of determinants of current and future residency; and the role of perpetrators of discrimination and exploitation. The often combined exercise of these complex and partly contradictory roles of employers is examined in the context of the regulation of regional settlement and the provision of government-funded settlement assistance. The analysis shows that these structural factors enable the position of employers as current or future sponsors of migrant workers and as principal providers of settlement support in regional and rural locations, which needs to be considered in future analyses of regional settlement.