The recent Refugee Communities Association of Australia national conference produced some innovative ideas and creative thinking on the concepts of settlement, social cohesion and belonging.

South Australia’s outgoing Minister for Multicultural Affairs Zoe Bettison gave her final speech as a minister at the conference.

She spoke of how multiculturalism was not an abstract idea but a “way of life in Australia”.

“At a volatile time in the world with 117 million people displaced and 42 million people identified as refugees, we are seeing ongoing conflicts that amount to many more than in the past,” Minister Bettison said.

“We need to recognise it takes time for people to rebuild their lives and that often there is guilt about the people left behind,” she said.

Minister Bettison said there was currently an absence of discussion about what refugees had done for Australia and the contributions they have made.

“Many refugees have had their lives interrupted and many live with trauma but from my experience they are also bold and brave. When give an opportunity for education or to open a business, they take it,” she said.

Referencing the result of the recent South Australian election, which saw the anti-migrant party One Nation make gains, Minister Bettison said that people are suffering cost-of-living pain and are lashing out.

“So, we have work to do to convene people that diversity is out greatest strength,” she said.

Lawyer and Multicultural Framework Review co-author Nyadol Nyuon told the conference that settlement was just the start of a process of a journey towards a sense of belonging.

She said the identification of the one millionth refugee to arrive in Australia since WWII was a seminal moment.

“I was one of those million,” she said.

“I was born stateless in a refugee camp in Kenya because of the war in South Sudan. I was 16 years old and the time and ambitious for my future. The hope of resettlement was the only way my dreams could come true. So, I was desperate,” Ms Nyuon said.

“Every night my mother would sing and pray to God to take us out of the camp.

“All along the journey my mother showed leadership that changed my life. In the camp I walked an hour to school every day, often in the heat and dust. So, my mother bought me a bicycle. It eased my daily journey, but it also broke a cultural rule that girls’ educations were not a priority.

“She also applied for us to come to Australia. Today we are grateful for the systems and institutions that have supported us in this country.

“But those systems and institutions need to develop to address changing needs and conditions because a culturally diverse society is not the same as successful multicultural society.

“Achieving this is a job or work and requires maintenance and investment,” she said.

Ms Nyuon said she referred to this a ‘common health’, a state where a sense of belonging is extended to all and where refugees and migrants were not just part of Australia but were ready and willing to contribute to Australian society.

The conference also heard about the latest research on the ‘Economic participation of humanitarian migrants in Australia’ from the longitudinal ‘Building a New Life in Australia’ (BNLA) study.

Dr Salma Ahmed told the conference that humanitarian migration was about offering protection but achieving successful economic participation was important to successful settlement.

She said the challenges and barriers to this were people being forced into low paid jobs and insecure work.

The study, which began in 2013, found that men were more likely than women to be employed.

“We found that job quality improved over time and, after ten years, 43 per cent of survey participants were permanently employed and 21 per cent were elf-employed,” Dr Ahmed said.

“But many people are still working below their skill levels after ten years.

“Among the success factors identified were pre-arrival work experience, Australian study or training and good health,” Dr Ahmed said.

Among the study’s recommendations were “investing in faster credential recognition” and “expanding services for migrants seeking work”.

Opening the conference SA Governor Frances Adamson said she was personally inspired by hearing the personal stories of refugees.

She said that multiculturalism was “central to our national conversation” and that “listening other people delivers better outcomes for all Australians”.

Governor Adamson also paid tribute to her predecessor Vietnamese refugee Hieu Van Le.

Mr Le is one of the most distinguished former Vietnamese refugees who have made Australia home.

In 2014 he was sworn in as Governor of South Australia after a career in business, finance and economics.

Mr Le arrived in Darwin by boat in 1977 and was the first Asian migrant to rise to the position of governor in any state in Australia.