Jean Ntakarutimana's life working on a sweet potato farm in central Queensland is a far cry from the Tanzanian refugee camp he called home for over a decade.

This is his first steady employment since moving to Australia as a teenager, a break that has seen him relocate his extended family from Brisbane to Gracemere, where they are creating a new life.

"We're happy to be here, the rent is cheap, everything is easier," Mr Ntakarutimana said.

Despite the excitement of moving to Australia, life has not been easy for the Burundi family.

"It's very hard for me because I didn't have any idea of looking for work. Actually, it was very hard so I had to go through those agents to help me find work."

"My first job was very hard for me because it was my first job in Australia, including that I didn't speak English. It was very tough."

Mr Ntakarutimana is one of a small number of former refugees moving to regional areas, where the opportunities are not always evident.

It was only through the help of migrant and refugee advocate Ataus Samad, that he was able to settle into his new life, he said.

New life

Mr Ntakarutimana was just three years old when his family fled civil war in Burundi in the early '90s before taking refuge in Tanzania.

"When I was in a refugee camp, things wasn't easy. Actually, life was hard. Even when I was little, I remember some of them actually. It was hard to get food, it was hard to get some fresh water until we had the opportunity of coming here."

But it was a long and anxious three-year wait for a visa and the family had doubts it would ever happen. [ Jean Ntakarutimana and his family now call Gracemere home. ( ABC Capricornia: Alice Roberts )

"The one day, someone came up and said. 'You've got to go to the office tomorrow — you're ready to go.

"We were so happy [and] so surprised — we couldn't wait to get here."

The family settled in Brisbane, where Mr Ntakarutimana went to the local high school without a word of English.

"I was very quiet. I didn't want anybody to come near me or speak to me because I didn't know what to say."

But Mr Ntakarutimana made friends with English speakers to learn the language, but since leaving school it has been difficult to find employment for him and his family.

That was until now.

Lucky break

Sweet potato farmer Eric Coleman runs his intensive farming operation on the outskirts of Rockhampton and relies on casual labour for most of the year.

"There's been issues with getting backpackers in the past, so we've been looking for other sources of labour," Mr Coleman said.

He contacted an employment agency with initial reservations, and along came Mr Ntakarutimana.

[ Eric Coleman says Jean and his family have really fit in to the farm. ( ABC Capricornia: Alice Roberts )

"We ended up giving his dad a job and Johno's mum does a bit of casual work as well."

None of them have missed a day's work.

"From my point of view, they're a very good resource because they're good people - happy people.

"Just the happy nature of Johnno [Jean] and his family has really fit in with us being a family farm and they've always put in a big effort," Mr Coleman said.

"I think the best thing about Johnno and his dad is they come from an agricultural background, so it's not actually foreign to them but I think the employment agencies are probably running them into places like Brisbane and trying to get them jobs in an environment that's totally foreign."

Mr Coleman said if he went into an employment agency in Rockhampton "and picked a hundred kids leaving Year 12, I'd be flat out getting one that wants to come here and work in the sun".

Mr Coleman said he would like to see employment agencies put more time and funding into providing English lessons, driver licences and tickets.

"For us, that's quite an investment."

Mr Coleman has become more than an employer to the Ntakarutimana family. He helped them buy a car and is now recommends they buy a house and become more permanently settled.

The support is not lost on Mr Ntakarutimana.

"He has been there for me," he said of Mr Coleman.

"We're like a family. I can say that. We're like a family."

Where the jobs are

This is something migrant and refugee advocate Ataus Samad would like to see change.

"If we want to develop our regional and rural areas, we need people.

"We need to create an environment that will encourage people to settle," he said.

Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council's Ataus Samad. ( ABC Capricornia: Alice Roberts )

Mr Samad said there were ample opportunities for refugees and migrants to move out of the major cities, but employers in rural and regional areas needed support and incentives to employ them.

"I think would do more than relying on labour hire companies or those dodgy labour hire contractors who are exploiting vulnerable people or exploiting the vulnerable people who are coming here as seasonal working or working holiday visas."

Mr Samad spear-headed a successful one-year pilot program six years ago, where refugees from Burma were resettled into the small rural town of Biloela, almost 200 km west of Rockhampton.

"We took an employment-led approach because employment is one of the most important things that provides bread and butter for newly settled people and we worked with local employers."

The one-year pilot ended in 2011, but families who moved to Biloela as still there despite an economic downturn.

"If we give incentives to employers to take on migrants who are already permanent residents it will benefit everyone, because that money will be spent in the local community and it will be a much better dividend for everyone," Mr Samad said.

He was instrumental in settling Mr Ntakarutimana into his new job and town.

"With Jean — I worked closely with his employer, Eric [Coelman]. He's a wonderful gentleman and is like most of the Australians I come across."

Mr Samad said while there were opportunities for migrant and former refugees to relocate to regional Australia, it was also important to have the support of their own community as they move. [ Central Queensland sweet potato farmer Eric Coleman with Jean Ntakarutimana and Jean's parents. ( ABC Capricornia: Alice Roberts )

"People are quite resilient and adventurous and want to do new things, but at the same time there's a social need and people want to interact with people from their own background," he said.

"If the resettled community is too big, there will be a reluctance to integrate with the mainstream community and that's what's happening now in bigger cities.

"We have enclaves of different communities and that's not helpful for the successful integration of people into the community."