MRC North chief Ella Dixon farewells the organisation

She took on the role in 2014 after working for the Department of Premier and Cabinet and local councils in Launceston and Circular Head.

Born in the Philippines and arriving in Australia as an 11-year-old, Ms Dixon brought her personal experience of immigration to her time at MRC North.

Her family arrived in 1981 and made their home in Smithton which back then had a population of about 6000 people, she said.

"There were no MRCs, you know, in Smithton," Ms Dixon said

"I think my mum was first assisted by people from the CWA.

"It was a bit scary because we were the first Filipino family in Smithton.

"Walking down the main street for the first time, you kind of got people looking at you because we really did stand out."

While her first year of schooling was rough, she said the community embraced her family once they got to know them.

"It's a beautiful community and I would move back there at a heartbeat," Ms Dixon said.

During her time, MRC North has settled seven to eight cultural groups who've now made their home in Launceston.

When she first started, MRC settled a large number of Afghan migrants who had come through the humanitarian program and in recent years has seen many Eritreans and Ethiopians come through.

The organisation has also supported Pacific seasonal workers who came come via the Pacific Labour Mobility Scheme (PALM).

Launceston is also proud to be the first regional location to have settled the first Bhutanese in Australia, Ms Dixon said.

While there are pockets of discrimination, Ms Dixon said she found that Launceston was a very welcoming community.

Over her nine years at MRC, she's observed changing attitudes towards migrants and seen a greater understanding of why people are here.

She also seen a growing awareness of the obligations of the host community to the people who have arrived here under various types of visas.

"I think there's generally more awareness around that and I'm really pleased to see that," Ms Dixon said.

Among the highlights at MRC have been the organisation's 40^th anniversary, health literacy programs, and learning to drive programs.

Ms Dixon will pass the MRC North torch to Mark Deverell, who has been active in MRC's Welcome Disability Services, on January 19.