The Regional Partnerships Project – Migration Readiness Assessment is a Pilot Project is a three year, $900K undertaking by Queensland Multicultural Affairs across three Shires in far south west Queensland – Balonne, Bulloo and Paroo Shires. Each of these Shires are experiencing recruitment stress with a large number of potential positions remaining unfilled. Each of the Shires could see that migrant labour held possibilities to relieve some of this recruitment stress and also to help arrest a declining population and service base. Sixty by Twenty was engaged to manage the project across the Bulloo and Paroo Shires. The role of Sixty by Twenty has included;
- Project Management
- Total responsibility for funding management, budget allocation of $600K over the three years.
- Responsibility to work within Queensland Government and individual council WHS, HR and other policies and requirements.
- Working within media protocols of Queensland Government and the individual councils.
- Project Execution
- Consultation with the funding body and councils, and then individuals to form a Steering Committee for each shire consisting of a mix of Council staff and executive, community leaders, business people and migrants.
- Extensive stakeholder engagement – in person, by telephone and by survey to understand the key issues in each community, identification of service providers and community influencers.
- Strategic subject workshops and reporting to both tiers of government – housing, sporting, connecting.
- Grant applications for specific output components of the project.
- Website design and build – content management, video production, ongoing maintenance – developent of MOU to provide for ongoing management and maintenance.
- Facilitation of community activities – video and website launches, multicultural events, indigenous art opportunities








- Specific Project Outputs
- Housing Strategy Documents for both Shires.
- Translation service awareness and training across both shires, service providers and local businesses.
- New Residents’ Night, New Residents’ Pack, Paroo Passport in conjunction with Community Services and Economic Development Team.
- LiveOutback Website and Social Media presence, communitcations strategies and execution – currently being developed and rolled out.
- Connecting our Young People social gatherings for new people to town to connect those who have no connection to community.
- Case studies for use by the Queensland Department of Multicultural Affairs and cooperating organisation – Welcoming Cities
- Our Stories Video Series to promote life in far outback Queensland and the experiences of migrants, employers and co-workers.