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Two workers at a chicken factory. They are wearing aprons, gloves and hair nets.

"When well-facilitated, it can make a significant contribution to the economic as well as the cultural-social fabric of regional communities,"
Ms Scarth said.

A group of workers dressed in hairnets, facemasks and aprons surround a table of raw chickens.

"The different cultures within the workforce seem to feed off one another, and there's been some really good relationships built across the various nationalities."

Four girls dressed in blue, floral dance costumes sit on floor. One plays with their phone.

"We have seen some ugly protests from a section of the community that are not very welcoming,"
Ms McInnes said.

Bu Gay, a Karen social worker in Bendigo, looks at the camera. She's surrounded by blue sky and tree branches.

"It was very hard to communicate, very hard to go shopping, very to go out for socialising."

Posted , updated