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Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttps://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=resw20Ethics and Social WelfareISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/resw20Is Anyone Listening to us? ‘They’re Given Feedbackand There’s No Outcomes’ Settlement for NewlyArrived Syrians in Regional AustraliaKim Robinson & Greer Lamaro HaintzTo cite this article: Kim Robinson & Greer Lamaro Haintz (2021): Is Anyone Listening to us?‘They’re Given Feedback and There’s No Outcomes’ Settlement for Newly Arrived Syrians inRegional Australia, Ethics and Social WelfareTo link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2020.1802502Published online: 10 Feb 2021.Submit your article to this journalView related articlesView Crossmark dataIs Anyone Listening to us? ‘They’re Given Feedback andThere’s No Outcomes’ Settlement for Newly Arrived Syrians inRegional AustraliaKim Robinson a and Greer Lamaro HaintzbaSchool of Health & Social Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia; bSchool ofHealth & Social Development, Faculty of Health, Centre for Health through Action on Social Exclusion, DeakinUniversity, Geelong, AustraliaABSTRACTIn 2017 the number of refugees arriving in Australia was double theintake of previous decades. In 2015 the Australian Governmentprovided an additional 12,000 humanitarian visas specifically toSyrian and Iraqi refugees. While Australia has a robustpredominantly urban system designed to settle refugees whohave a high level of need, the same services may not be wellsuited or available to the Syrian population who are beingencouraged to settle in rural and regional areas. This paper drawson empirical research that documents issues affecting Syrianrefugee settlement and builds on existing research to identifykeys to successful and ethical regional settlement policy. Initialfindings suggest high levels of social capital but limitedopportunities for employment and education are thwartingsettlement efforts. We argue for working in partnership andpromoting ethical social work values to address the challengesfacing these newly arrived communities. Social workers andhuman service educators and practitioners in this space mustadapt to the rapidly changing service delivery system. Workingalongside refugees, in this case Syrian people, requires both coproduction and transparency in order to shift perceptions of theirvulnerability and lack of agency in order to foster agency and selfdetermination.KEYWORDSSyrian; humanitarianrefugees; regionalsettlement; AustralianresettlementIntroductionIn 2017 the intake number of refugees arriving in Australia was double that of previousdecades which totaled 13,750 places for the 2015–2016 financial year and increased to18,750 places in the 2018–2019 financial year (Australian Government (a) 2019, 209; Australian Government, (c) 2019). The ongoing civil war and conflict in the Middle East putpressure on countries of settlement to urgently assist safe passage of families, adultsand children. In 2015, the Australian Government agreed to provide an additional12,000 humanitarian visas specifically to Syrian and Iraqi refugees (Australian Government,(c) 2019). Most of these newly arrived refugee families were settled in New South Wales,© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupCONTACT Kim Robinson kim.robinson@deakin.edu.au School of Health & Social Development, Faculty of Health,Deakin University, Geelong Waterfront Campus, Locked Bag 20001, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaETHICS AND SOCIAL WELFAREhttps://doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2020.1802502Victoria and Queensland. In the case of Victoria, many of the new arrivals settled inregional and rural areas outside of Melbourne due to Federal Government policy initiativeswhere refugees agreed to a fast track system during off-shore processing (SettlementCouncil of Australia 2016). While Australia has become home to many Iraqis over thepast two decades, the Syrian community are new to Australia, with little known abouttheir needs or experiences upon regional settlement in Australia. This paper draws on asmall qualitative study with Syrian and Syriac communities in one regional city in Australiato investigate their resettlement, and the implications for social work and human servicespractices regarding resettlement. It documents issues affecting their resettlement andbuilds on existing research to identify keys to successful regional settlement policy. Thepaper also highlights a range of ethical challenges in conducting the study includingthe rapidly shifting funding and policy context that impacted on the ability to developtrusting relationships and avoid raising false expectations for the informants, which areimportant for social work academics and practitioners to consider.BackgroundRefugees in Australia have access to a range of services via the Humanitarian SettlementProgram (HSP) (Australian Government (b) 2019). The programme is designed to assistrefugees and humanitarian entrants upon their arrival in Australia, encouraging successfulintegration into the community, primarily via education and employment. Places in training courses and institutions are available, and access to social housing (albeit limited) andhealth care via Medicare is provided. Specialized and Intensive Services (SIS) are also provided to those who have complex needs. In using the term integration, we are mindful notto diminish the cultural specificity of rural migration and multicultural practices (Carrington and Marshall 2008; Radford 2019).The Syrian community are unlike many other refugee groups that have made Australiahome over the last decade, such as those from African countries, Afghanistan or Myanmar.The suddenness and extent of the war in Syria took many Syrians, as well as much of theglobal community, by surprise and it continues to be a major humanitarian and refugeecrisis (UNHCR 2019). Before the war began, Syria was a largely stable country with wellfunctioning education and hospital systems, and a strong civil society, albeit in an authoritarian regime. Many Syrians arriving in Australia are tertiary educated and have recentprofessional experience (Collins et al. 2018), which differs from the situation of manyother humanitarian arrivals who have lived long term in refugee camps. Many Syrian refugees have a Global Special Humanitarian visa, meaning that they are sponsored by a familyor community member already in Australia, and so arrive with existing community ties(Collins et al. 2018; Wood and Higgins 2018). One outcome of this context is that whileAustralia has a robust system designed to settle refugees who have a high level of needand often experience extreme culture shock, the same services may not be sufficient orwell suited to the Syrian population.By working in partnership with key stakeholders and refugees, what we call co-production, this research aimed to develop further understanding of the experiences of resettlement unique to this population, and to identify strategies for successful integration andsettlement in regional Australia. This research did not seek to evaluate the HSP but ratherto work with a key service provider to understand how the programme can be best2 K. ROBINSON AND G. LAMARO HAINTZtailored to resettlement success for the Syrian communities. Despite the availability of theHSP services, and some knowledge about the settlement of refugees into regional andrural areas (Sypek, Clugston, and Phillips 2008; Briskman 2012; Correa-Velez, Spaaij, andUpham 2013; Jewson et al. 2015), little is known about how those in the Syrian communityspecifically adapt to and integrate into the community, in education and in employment. Anew and emerging literature is documenting some regional and rural communities generally, and highlighting ethical and policy challenges (see Settlement Council of Australia2016; Collins et al. 2018; Kandasamy and Soldatic 2018; Radford 2019; van Kooy, Wickes,and Ali 2019). We go on to examine some of these challenges here.Settlement in AustraliaThe UNCHR states that Australia is ranked third in the world in terms of its resettlementcommitment, and first in its per-capita intake (UNHCR 2019). For several decades, Australiahas offered settlement services based on general principles of equity and multiculturalism(Fozdar and Hartley 2013). In Australia, successful settlement and integration are the keyobjectives of the Refugee and Humanitarian Program, with the Department of HomeAffairs responsible for immigration and settlement outcomes (Australian Government(b) 2019). There are a number of metrics for settlement success, including economic participation (labor-force outcomes, occupational status, sources of income, level of incomeand housing); social participation and well-being (English proficiency, satisfaction withlife and Australian citizenship); and physical and mental well-being.Although humanitarian entrants maintain high levels of personal resilience, a sense ofcommunity, and a strong work ethic, research suggests that some refugees do not settleas easily as other migrants in Australia (Pittaway, Muli, and Shteir 2009; Fozdar and Banki2017). Humanitarian entrants experience a range of issues related to language; education;differences of values; unemployment; family issues including family violence, inter-generational conflict, changing gender roles, and child-rearing practices; expectations; knowledgeof and access to services including housing, and health and mental health (Steel et al. 2011;Milosevic, Cheng, and Smith 2012; Hadgkiss and Renzaho 2014; Jewson et al. 2015; Taylorand Haintz 2018; Robinson 2019). While those from refugee backgrounds face the samechallenges as others living in poverty, they are overlaid with pre-migration experiences(Hadgkiss et al. 2012), additional expenses, and policies that exclude some from incomesupport, with many forced to rely on charity for assistance (McKay and Dunn 2015).In addition to the concerns noted in the literature above, the priority of gaining meaningful employment is hampered by limited access to appropriate jobs, and poor pay andconditions, resulting in poverty (Abdelkerim and Grace 2012; Fozdar and Hartley 2013).The treatment of children also featured in the literature in terms of access to educationand support, gender equity issues, activities and friendships (Zuchowski and Zuchowski2018). Finally, navigating refugee rights for family reunion and having fears for family overseas were prominent concerns (Collins et al. 2018; van Kooy, Wickes, and Ali 2019).Policy context of regional and rural settlementFor several decades, the Australian Federal Government has had various strategies toattract resettling refugees to regional and rural locations (Settlement Council of AustraliaETHICS AND SOCIAL WELFARE 32016). The rationale for this policy is to reduce the numbers of people in cities and to revitalise rural and regional towns with limited economies. These towns benefit from the positive contribution to local communities through the skills and expertise refugees bring. TheSettlement Council of Australia (SCoA) (2016) reports that while several schemes havebeen successful in attracting resettling refugees to regional and rural areas, retention ofthese groups in those communities has been more challenging for several reasons. Adequate and appropriate social and service support during resettlement is critical, and key tolong-term resettlement and retention are housing, education and employment (SCoA2016; Musoni 2019). However, many of these requirements have been found to belacking in regional areas of Victoria (Kandasamy and Soldatic 2018; Musoni 2019).Building on the evidence of recent reports noted above, it can be observed that thereare tensions between the Federal Government policy of increased centralisation of serviceprovision, with that of the State of Victoria. The Victorian Strategy developed specificpolicy to support community cohesion and strengthen resilience of new arrivals (VictorianGovernment 2015) and local governments are responsible for the ‘on the ground’ deliveryof and co-ordination of services. It is, however, the enactment of policy between the threetiers of Government that can create barriers and is the space that social workers and otherhuman services practitioners find themselves navigating. Radford (2019) argues that it isimportant not to over-romanticise or underestimate the potential of regional and ruralresettlement when dealing with these challenging issues.Social inclusion and social capital in resettlementStrategies that promote inclusion and minimise exclusion, and that aid successful integration are critical to a well-functioning society and are highly contested in terms oftheir defining features (Ager and Strang 2008; Sidhu and Taylor 2009; Fozdar andHartley 2013). Social capital, being the networks, norms and trust that enables individualand group to participate meaningfully in society and to work together toward shared goals(Plummer 2001), is critical in experiences of social inclusion or exclusion (Taket et al. 2009).Academics have focused on this area in the study of migration and have argued that networks have been critical to the complex process of settlement and integration of resettlingrefugees via communities and families, particularly for women (Mitchell and Correa-Velez2010).Putnam (2000) identified three forms of social capital: (i) bonding – the links betweenmembers of the same group; (ii) bridging – the links between different groups; and (iii)linking – vertical connections across formal or institutional structures in society. As such,various forms of social capital can all facilitate opportunities for, and access to, participation in society for resettling refugees, including in the employment market.There have been a number of frameworks developed that specifically identify measuresfor integration of refugees. One of the most cited is Ager and Strang’s (2008) conceptualmodel that was developed to examine integration of people of refugee background intothe United Kingdom. This model identifies four key domains that are predicated on rightsand citizenship, along with safety and stability. In Australia, Briskman (2012) highlights asocial capital framework that identifies the positive contributions of refugees and humanitarian migrants. The narratives from refugees who define successful settlement areabout building new industries, creating opportunities and success in all areas ‘including4 K. ROBINSON AND G. LAMARO HAINTZthe arts, sport, media, science, research, business, and civic and community life’ (Briskman2012, 152). Key to fostering social capital is tackling the barriers to employment whichincludes finding solutions with Australian employers to recognise overseas qualifications,bridge disrupted employment and to recognise work experience prior to war and forcedmigration. These are particularly pertinent issues for the newly arrived Syrian communities(Collins et al. 2018).Ethics and values in resettlement: critical social workCritical social work argues that ethical issues in social and human services work practiceare contextualised and situated in power relationships. These power differentials requireconscious ethical practice that challenge dominant assumptions and discourses of oppression (Pullen-Sansfacon and Cowden 2012; Banks 2016). The critical work of feminist scholars have argued gender is a key but often underestimated element in our understandingof in forced migration (Mahler and Pessar 2006). Nipperess and Williams (2019) describethree key principles to critical multicultural social work practice, human rights, recognitionof diversities and social justice – all of which are underpinned by international and nationalethical conventions and declarations. The International Federation of Social Work (2004)and the Australian Association of Social Workers (2010) along with other professionshave clearly stated positions on the values and ethics that build on these principles andstatements which support and respect the persons with whom we work. For thoseworking in policy, practice and research, Banks (2016, 36) describes ‘ethics work’ which‘encompasses reasoning, but also includes work on emotion, identity, roles and responsibilities’ associated with social interactionism and social constructionism. Working alongside refugees, in this case Syrian people, required both co-production and transparencyof the research in order to both acknowledge and shift perceptions of their vulnerabilityand lack of agency. Critical social work focuses on equalising relationships, but also takesinto account that there are genuine power differentials between service users and serviceproviders. Importantly, it requires that social and human services workers challenge thedeficit model which suggests that refugees are a liability, and instead focus on thebenefits to society that they contribute (Fozdar and Hartley 2013; Hugo 2014; Marlowe2017; Robinson 2020).Social and human services workers themselves are subject to the changes in Government policies at all levels as they influence funding and service delivery models andagency service provision. Social workers form part of the ‘precariat’ (Standing 2011) asthey are often in precarious employment in a rapidly changing and increasingly digitisedservice delivery systems. This particularly applies to those working in settlement serviceson insecure short term contracts and who may be vulnerable when advocating and challenging the unethical and poor conditions facing the clients they serve and work with.Oppression, whatever its form, has four essential components: the misuse of power,processes of objectification, the silence of witnesses, and the entrapment or accommodation of witnesses (McLaughlin 2008; Mullaly 2010). In developing ethical practice andresearch with refugee populations, the impacts of all of these types of oppression needto be acknowledged. Critical social work aims to address human rights and socialjustice issues, and works to both challenge and implement the instruments of law and protection to advocate for change. The advocacy for and with service users is informed by anETHICS AND SOCIAL WELFARE 5understanding of the structural factors that create the barriers for genuine resettlement(Marlowe 2017). These include those noted above such as the limited access to employment, with poor pay and conditions; limited access to housing; inadequate healthcarethat impacts on well-being, with those experiencing marginalisation having high ratesof poor mental health and stress. In addition the treatment of women and children andaccess to education and support along with refugee rights and family reunion constitutekey concerns for new arrivals and their advocates.Recent and emerging literature has examined the ethics of working with refugee populations and appears to focus on a number of key themes. In most cases scholars haveargued that research with refugees ought to provide benefits to their lives and make adifference to their material realities (Block et al. 2013). In addition, research processesneed to capture the true meaning of consent which enables and facilitates agency ofthe informants but also reduces harm (Mackenzie, McDowell, and Pittaway 2007;Hugman, Pittaway, and Bartolomei 2011). This means moving away from harm reductionto more inclusive methods and processes. Block et al. (2013) specifically identify some ofthese in the context of Bourdieu’s (1967) theory of ethical reflexivity which acknowledgeshow different the life views are between researchers and research participants. The veryprocesses of active listening and ethical practice are often assumed to be empowering,but can also be limited due to ‘research fatigue’; this is discussed further in the limitationssection below. In summary, we argue that there is a dual dynamic to consider in workingwith people from refugee backgrounds, which requires researchers take into account andunderstand both oppression and agency.MethodsThe aim of the study was to investigate the settlement experiences of the new Syrian community in a regional area of Victoria. The study built on existing settlement research inregional areas, with the aim of assisting in the development and articulation of positiveindicators for good practice in settlement services (McMichael et al. 2015; Neumannet al. 2014). By using a community-led, action research methodology, a secondary aimof this research was to build capacity with the Syrian community, and leverage existingstrengths, ensuring that the skills of participants were recognised and valued. This isimportant as many humanitarian arrivals from Syria, as noted above, are highly skilledand come from professional backgrounds. The researchers facilitated two focus groupswith community members who reflected different cohorts of the Syrian communities;women, men, and families; varying ages; and including one of each predominant faithgroups, Christian and Muslim. Table 1 illustrates the sample characteristics.Interpreters were present at the focus groups to allow for language interpretation andenable a wide ranging discussion to identify the main issues that affected theirresettlement.This qualitative research has been influenced by feminist methodology and groundedtheory approaches (Charmaz 2014), with thematic data analysis (Gray 2009). Theseapproaches have continuity with direct practice in a range of settings, including attentivelistening to the narratives and experiences of the participants. They actively invite theresearcher to question taken for granted assumptions, to explore the data with a fresh6 K. ROBINSON AND G. LAMARO HAINTZand open perspective, to check back with participants to confirm the interpretations, anddevelop a nuanced understanding of the issues.Ethics approval was gained from Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee(DUHREC) prior to the interviews. Participants were approached via the Case Workers at akey regional service provider, and also via snowballing techniques (Liamputtong 2019).Participants were provided with an information sheet, a consent form, and clear communication about the voluntary nature of the focus group.The key questions we asked the participants were:. How did you find your arrival here?. Who do you turn to for information and services?. What services are meeting your needs as recent humanitarian arrivals?. What services are missing that you need for a better settlement experience?The focus groups were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim by an external transcription agency. Transcripts were de-identified, with each participant given a uniqueanonymous identifier.Data were interpreted and analysed from the narratives produced from the focusgroups, ensuring that it was generated from the ‘ground up’ (Strauss and Corbin 1997).Given the experience of the research team and their work with asylum seekers and refugees the collective narratives emerged ‘up from below’, consistent with social constructionist positions (Burr 1998). These narratives articulate wide ranging concerns andissues, and in particular highlight discourses and experiences of oppression (Plummer2001).Analysis was undertaken by each of the researchers (Author 1 and Author 2) who firstseparately read each transcript and identified common words or phrases. Commonalitieswere grouped together in a process of axial coding to form categories. A mind-map ofinitial categories was developed by one of the lead researchers (Author 1), and sharedwith the second researcher (Author 2). The second researcher was then able to add anyadditional categories and discuss any other points of commonality or difference. Themind-map of categories was examined and discussed to reveal any notable relationshipsbetween categories, and those with relationships were grouped together in an iterativeprocess of selective coding to form themes. The themes derived through analysis wereTable 1. Participant characteristics.Group number Pseudonym Gender & age group* Length of time in AustraliaGROUP 1 Afzal Adult male 4 yearsHafiz Adult male 4 years (Mahar)Hadi Adult male 4 years (Kaleb)Adam Male young person 9 monthsGROUP 2 Abu Adult male 4 yearsFadila Adult female 4 yearsIrfan Adult male unstatedDana Female young person 4 yearsNizar Male young person 3 yearsHalima Female young person