Being part of a community that embraces different cultures, offers strong support networks and a quieter lifestyle are some of the reasons young families from migrant backgrounds are choosing to live regionally over remaining in metropolitan areas.
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THE FAMILY
William Diew and his young family have called Ballarat home since July after making the move regionally in search of opportunities.
While living in Melbourne, Mr Diew first started spending time in Ballarat in February after he enrolled in a course in social work at Federation University.
He also had relatives and friends living in the area.
The more he got to know Ballarat and what it had to offer, Mr Diew realised it was the place where he wanted to create a home with his wife Nyakim Ter and raise their three children Alice, 9, Christopher, 7, and Nyarvon, 2.
“The first thing (in deciding to move) was the opportunity for work,” Mr Diew said.
“I tried all that I could to get a job in the area I was interested in, human resources, but I couldn’t find that in Dandenong. I have experience in support work in communities like with disability and also as a mentor.”
Mr Diew originally arrived in Australia in 2001 after escaping civil wars in Africa.
“I was born in South Sudan but the civil war broke out again in 1983 so my family was forced to run to Ethiopia to live in a refugee camp,” he said.
“From there again there was civil war in Ethiopia, so we were forced again back to South Sudan and then to Kenya. From there I had the opportunity to come to Australia.”
Mr Diew first lived in Hobart before moving to Dandenong, where his family has been based for the past five years.
He has also spent time working in the Northern Territory and Alice Springs, but decided to return after finding it too difficult living away from his young children.
While he has had a taste of the busy city lifestyle, Mr Diew said he preferred living in regional areas.
“I lived in regional areas back in Africa but it was not like this, like total bush…. I would just be helping my family cattle rearing and things like that,” Mr Diew said.
“It’s not much to do with how I was brought up that I choose to live in the countryside like this. It’s more of the fact that there are opportunities and the community here, especially Ballarat, is so welcoming.”
As part of his studies at Federation University, Mr Diew is currently undertaking a placement at Phoenix College as a mentor in the student wellbeing program.
His wife is busy looking after the children but hopes to find work in the disability and aged care sector, an area in which she has both experience and qualifications.
The two oldest children Alice and Christopher attend Alfredton Primary School. Mr Diew admits there was a bit of an adjustment period.
“In the first place they were a bit not sure,” he said.
“They didn’t want to leave their friends, but the fact that we have relatives here and they used to come here… and every school you go to you make friends, in the end they accepted it and at the moment they’re so happy.”
Mr Diew emphasised the welcome his family has received from the South Sudanese and African communities here in Ballarat has made a huge difference.
Not only that, but also from the wider community.
There was a moment that particularly stood out for Mr Diew earlier in the year that helped sway his decision to permanently move.
“I happened to attend an African cultural day in Ballarat,” Mr Diew said.
“I was so surprised because the attendants were so not African, most of them were not African. It doesn’t happen anywhere else. If you find African cultural day it would be very much Africans and a few probably from multicultural or the department of human service.
“But here everyone is so welcoming. I thought this is very good for my kids, very good for my family.”
Mr Diew believed it important for communities to hold cultural events, which could help children embrace their backgrounds.
“It’s very easy for our kids to forget what is African because they’re born here and everything that they know is here and I don’t blame them because this is their culture, African they consider it like their parent culture,” he said.
“But when there are a group of Africans together where there is a celebration, they can learn something from that, because it’s very hard to learn it from the parents only.”
THE COMMUNITY
As president of the Ballarat African Association, Isaac Moses said he knew of at least four families with young children that had recently made the move to Ballarat from Melbourne.
He said in his conversations with the families, they had opted for the quieter lifestyle, less traffic and a close-knit community where parents could get to know the friends of their children.
“Those are the things families value,” Mr Moses said.
“Melbourne seemed to be a bit busy and there were a lot of things happening in terms of young people... bad influences and kids engaging in unacceptable activities.”
Mr Moses said in Ballarat in particular there was a lot of change happening and a city welcoming of refugees and migrants had a positive impact on the wellbeing of the new residents.
“The community is well aware of people who may not be born here or who have just migrated,” he said.
“There is more acceptance, there is more inclusion in Ballarat.
“People might be worried because it’s a regional area, there is nothing here. But when people come here they see actually we have everything they have in Melbourne. We have so many schools, two universities, we have jobs, people can enjoy life here. Families are happy.”
But Mr Moses said it often helped having relatives and friends living nearby.
“The majority of Africans, when we migrate to Australia we have that concept of living together,” he said.
“But people realise in this country you have to follow the opportunities.”
Mr Moses said with projects and grants for migrants and refugees, more doors were opening in the areas of employment and education.
Earlier in the week Population and Urban Infrastructure Minister Alan Tudge proposed decentralisation as a solution to population growth in major cities such as Melbourne and Sydney, which were said to be exceeding projections by 100 per cent in the past decade.
“One of the ways we can do this is through directing new migrants to smaller states or regions,” Mr Tudge said.
“Matching the skills of new migrants with the skill shortages in rural and regional Australia will be key to the success of this approach.”
But Mr Moses said the decision needed to come from the people themselves.
“The reality is when you propose for people to do things, sometimes they go the other way,” he said.
“The African community itself needs to educate itself about the importance of having opportunities and that if they go to Ballarat there are increasing opportunities, they can get a job.”
THE COMMISSIONER
Victorian Multicultural Commission commissioner Sundram Sivamalai believes there is still a lot more to do to make regional areas a better place to live for migrants.
He said the regional population lacked the critical mass to provide the safety and security of the migrants.
And if they did not have enough numbers in certain ethnic-specific cohorts, they could not be self-supporting or self-sustaining.
“That goes right across all of Australia where the infrastructure in the regions could be improved,” Dr Sivamalai said.
“For example talking about health services, we don’t have all the specialist availabilities. If you’re looking at invasive issues particularly for new migrants, they need to be explained in a culturally sensitive manner, so they fully understand before they give their consent.”
Dr Sivamalai said while some local governments were more supportive than others, more action at all levels of government was needed. He urged local, state and federal governments to keep talking about these issues and planning for them.
“They should have people from the regions who have lived here and experienced here to share some of their views and some of the challenges that are facing the new migrants,” he said.
“We need the local government as the first port of call, who understand the issues at the grassroots level.
“When we look at for example Ballarat, our cohort of individual groups is not that large to have that extended peer support. We don't have that critical mass, but you can see there is already an informal supportive network, which will take you a good mileage.”
Dr Sivamalai agreed a key part of being a welcoming community was embracing different cultures through events and celebrations.
“People celebrate their heritage because it is important for them, particularly when away from home,” he said.
“It gives them comradeship and also you’re sharing the culture with others, who may not have seen it before. It adds value to that new place.”