A “BALLARAT Solution” welcoming asylum seekers to the town would benefit regional communities, a local health boss has said. Last week, the federal government’s plans to send asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing fell through due to lack of support in Parliament. This makes a return to onshore processing Labor’s only option.The Courier has touted the idea of promoting onshore processing of asylum seekers within the community in Ballarat. Welcoming the push, Ballarat Community Health chief executive Robyn Reeves said Ballarat already had asylum seekers in detention. And the town, she said, was well placed to further expand the program.“... in order to allow for proper integration of new arrivals into the community, proper support needs to be made available,” Ms Reeves said. “And Ballarat is quite well placed to do that.“We have staff in agencies across Ballarat who have had quite a bit to do with refugee arrivals over the last four to five years.”However, Ms Reeves said the town needed to develop better access to employment for the program to be successful in the long-term.Ms Reeves said, more accommodation, staff and access to English language skills were the other prerequisites required. Ballarat Circle of Friends Australian Refugee Association president Kath Morton also backed calls for onshore processing of asylum seekers in Ballarat.AngliCare Victoria chief executive Paul McDonald said the organisation had been considering Ballarat as a potential for community detention of unaccompanied minors. Mayor Craig Fletcher said he would wait to be led by the community on the issue of onshore processing in Ballarat.Ballarat MP Catherine King refused to comment about onshore processing however she said that the issue of resettlement of refugees was a matter for community discussion.