Julia, a school teacher and Phillip, a veterinarian, run a cattle property in the rural area of Mingoola, NSW. In this area, like so many other tiny rural communities across Australia, many of the younger generation have moved to larger towns or cities, resulting in a declining and ageing population.

In 2013 the Mingoola Progress Association (of which Julia and Philip are Active members) came up with the idea of resettling refugee families in the unused farm houses in the district. This would lead to enough children enrolling in the school to enable the school to remain open; a pool of labour for seasonal farm work; and revitalising the ageing community with young blood. Julia and Philip embraced this idea wholeheartedly and worked tirelessly with refugee advocacy groups and government organisations to locate refugee families who wanted to settle in Mingoola.