LOBOCOVA

Multicultural engagement in New South Wales is often discussed through the lens of metropolitan Sydney, where cultural and linguistic diversity is highly visible, concentrated and supported by a wider network of specialist services, community organisations, ethnic media, bilingual workers and multicultural infrastructure. However, regional multicultural engagement in NSW tells a different story. It is smaller in scale, more personal, more relational, and often more complex because community, professional and personal boundaries are much closer.

NSW is one of Australia’s most culturally diverse states. According to Multicultural NSW, more than 2.3 million people in NSW, or 29.3% of the population, were born overseas; NSW residents come from more than 251 countries, identify with more than 310 ancestries, and speak more than 283 languages at home. (Multicultural NSW) However, this diversity is not distributed evenly across the state. Greater Sydney remains the main centre of cultural and linguistic diversity. In the 2021 Census, 38.6% of Greater Sydney’s population was born overseas, compared with 27.7% nationally. (Profile.ID) In contrast, in the Rest of NSW, 81.3% of people were born in Australia, and only 13.2% used a language other than English at home, compared with 32.4% in Greater Sydney. (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

This statistical contrast is important because it shows that multicultural engagement in regional NSW cannot simply copy metropolitan models. In Sydney, multicultural engagement often happens through established community hubs, formal networks, ethnic associations, multicultural service providers, bilingual staff, language-specific media, and larger population clusters. In regional areas, multicultural communities may be smaller, more dispersed, newer, and sometimes more visible because there are fewer people from similar backgrounds. This can create both opportunity and vulnerability.

A powerful example comes from the story of a settlement worker in Armidale, who reflected that in a small town, a worker cannot simply “switch off” from clients’ issues after hours, because that client may also be their neighbour. They may see each other at the shopping centre, church, school, community events or local services. This anecdote captures one of the key realities of regional multicultural work: engagement does not finish at the end of the working day. In regional towns, relationships are ongoing, visible and deeply interconnected.

Armidale provides a useful case study. Since 2018, more than 600 refugees from Iraq and Syria have been settled in Armidale through the Humanitarian Settlement Program. (Armidale Regional Council) Research on refugee settlement in Armidale highlights that successful settlement is not only about supporting new arrivals; it also requires mutual adaptation between newcomers and the host community. The research found that when Armidale became a new settlement location, many community members responded positively, but concerns were also present and needed to be worked through over time. This reinforces that regional settlement is not only a service delivery process. It is a whole-of-community change process.

In metropolitan areas, multicultural engagement can sometimes be organised around community segments: language groups, suburbs, faith groups, cultural associations, or service catchments. In regional areas, engagement often depends more heavily on trust, personal credibility, informal networks and the capacity of local champions. A community leader, bilingual volunteer, school staff member, church member, health worker or settlement worker may become a bridge between systems and families. This can be powerful, but it can also place a heavy emotional and professional burden on workers and community connectors.

Another important difference is access. In metropolitan Sydney, multicultural communities are more likely to have access to specialised legal, health, domestic and family violence, employment, education, settlement and language services. In regional NSW, services may be fewer, less specialised, harder to access without transport, and less experienced in working with newly arrived refugee or migrant communities. The Rest of NSW Census data also shows higher dependence on cars for travel to work, with 60.3% travelling by car as driver compared with 43.1% across NSW, which suggests that transport access can be a bigger factor in regional participation and service access. (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

The smaller scale of regional communities can also create stronger social cohesion when engagement is done well. People may know each other by name, local organisations may collaborate more directly, and community support can become very practical: helping with transport, school enrolments, English practice, employment connections, housing, food, gardening, sport or local events. However, the same closeness can create risks around confidentiality, privacy, burnout, role confusion and community pressure. For multicultural workers in regional NSW, professional boundaries must be carefully managed because they often live within the same social ecosystem as the people they support.

This is where the Armidale anecdote becomes more than a story. It illustrates the emotional labour of regional multicultural engagement. A settlement worker in a metropolitan area may finish work and return to a different suburb, a different network, or a more anonymous urban environment. In a small regional town, the worker may see the same client at the supermarket after hearing about their housing stress, trauma, family violence, visa concerns, employment struggle or mental health issue. The client is not just a “case”. They are part of the worker’s everyday community.

For this reason, regional multicultural engagement in NSW requires a place-based approach. It must recognise local demographics, local histories, Aboriginal communities, existing service capacity, local attitudes, employment opportunities, transport realities, faith communities, schools, councils and informal networks. Multicultural NSW’s Regional Engagement Program acknowledges this broader approach by engaging migrants and refugees, young people, Indigenous communities, cultural community leaders and community partners across NSW. (Multicultural NSW)

The key insight is that multicultural engagement in regional NSW is not less important because numbers are smaller. In many ways, it is more delicate. Each family, each community leader, each worker and each local organisation can have a visible impact on whether settlement succeeds. In metropolitan areas, multicultural engagement may be supported by scale. In regional areas, it is sustained by relationships.

The future of regional multicultural engagement in NSW should therefore invest not only in programs, but also in people: bilingual workers, community connectors, local champions, councils, schools, health services, faith groups and grassroots organisations. It should also provide stronger support for workforce wellbeing, supervision, cultural capability, confidentiality protocols and collaborative local planning. Regional multicultural work asks people to hold professional responsibility and community belonging at the same time. That is both its strength and its challenge.

Ultimately, regional multicultural engagement is about more than welcoming diversity. It is about building shared local futures. In regional NSW, multiculturalism is not only visible in festivals, food or language. It is visible in the everyday moments when neighbours become supporters, clients become community members, and small towns learn to expand their sense of belonging.