LAUSR

Introduction In mid-2016, viewers of the Australian public broadcaster’s regular ‘Australian Story’ documentary series learnt about the apparently atypical case of Mingoola, a small (2011 popn. c. 150) and somewhat isolated village, and the former Rwandan refugee families who eventually sought its sanctuary. Central to the episode’s narrative was the resolution of two strongly contrasting dilemmas. On one side lay Mingoola’s battle for survival as a social collective and an economic service centre following notification of the impending closure of its primary school due to low and declining enrolment – perhaps one of the direst threats to the future viability of any rural community (see Woods, 2005; Corbett, 2007). On the other side, was a number of former Rwandan refugee families resettled within Australia’s major cities following the 1994 genocide. Uprooted from the predominantly rural villages in which they practiced small-scale farming, and alienated by their new suburban surrounds, evidence of despondency and depression had emerged amongst this group.