$40m refugee boost for struggling Vic town

Refugee resettlement has created 70 full-time jobs and added $40 million to a struggling rural Victorian town's economy.

Since early 2010, 170 Karen refugees from Myanmar (Burma) have resettled at Nhill in western Victoria's wheatbelt, with the majority taking up work with poultry producer Luv-a-Duck which has been able to expand its operations.

A study by Deloitte Access Economics has found the refugees have been a social and economic boon for Nhill which had been grappling with an aging and declining population.