PRESENTATION TITLE: Financial, Psychological, and Social Barriers to Refugee Adaptation in Australia: Findings from the Building New Life in Australia Study (BLNA)
ABSTRACT: The previous decade has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people being forcibly displaced. Lingering crises around the world have created situations where an enormous number of displaced persons cannot return home and require resettlement. Previous research has shown that humanitarian migrants face challenges that persist over time and can lead to long-term inequities in health and wellbeing even after resettlement. Recent efforts to investigate these inequities have been established in Australia. The Building New Life in Australia (BNLA) study followed a representative sample of resettled humanitarian migrant adults for several years post-settlement and provided a cross-sectional assessment of adolescents. I will present recent findings from this study, focusing on how the immediate post-settlement context can have lasting effects on humanitarian migrants’ long-term psychological and financial well-being (Finding 1), and their likelihood of experiencing stress into the future (Finding 2). Finally, I focus on the adolescent sample, and identify how positive community engagement in the form of extracurricular activities can mitigate adverse outcomes associated with post-settlement risk factors (Finding 3). These results showcase that negative outcomes are not a forgone conclusion for humanitarian migrants. Together, we should foster welcoming and accepting communities to improve the lives of vulnerable people around us.
BIOGRAPHY: Alexander O’Donnell is an advanced PhD student at Griffith University (Gold Coast, Australia). He has a broad research interest, having published in intergroup relations and adolescent leisure time. More recently he has also studied refugee adaptation. Collectively, this work seeks to identify structural (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage) and psychological barriers preventing people from engaging in the diverse and enriching opportunities around them.
If interested in a one-to-one meeting with XX around their visit, please contact their SOPRG host at stefania.paolini@newcastle.edu.au to make arrangements.
