The majority of refugees, who are fleeing the Middle Eastern conflict and are to be settled in Australia over the next 18 months, will call the state of New South Wales (NSW) home.

The government is expecting between 4,000 and 7,000 refugees mainly from Syria and Iraq to settle in the state, according to NSW coordinator-General for Refugee resettlement, Professor Peter Shergold, who is responsible for settling them. Some are expected to arrive before the year ends.

The move is part of an Australia’s federal government initiative to accept 12,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq in response to the ongoing global refugee crisis.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Shergold said a recent police shooting in a Sydney suburb by a 15-year-old gunman, which is believed to have links to the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, should not be allowed to diminish the goodwill of this act.

‘[There will] always be people who make these links between terrorism and accepting refugees,’ Shergold said, dismissing critics of the decision. ‘What we’re doing is contributing in some small measure to rescuing people from that appalling ideology.’

Women and children are being given top resettlement priority, and Shergold said the ‘focus will be on persecuted minorities, those with virtually no chance of being able to return home to live full lives.’

Shergold highlighted the skills and education of the refugees in line to be resettled in Australia, in a move to further quieten any critics.

‘I have never met a refugee who came to Australia with the intention of living on welfare. They tend to be ambitious people, risk-takers, entrepreneurs,’ he said. He also said he hopes to raise a glass in the distant future to celebrate, ‘Australia’s leading businesswoman, who had settled here in Australia in 2016.’

Housing has been noted as a key challenge in accommodating the incoming refugees, and Shergold has suggested those without familial ties in Sydney may be settled in regional areas. ‘We don’t know the extent to which they will have family here who will be able to offer at least temporary accommodation support,’ he said.

Australian government officials will be working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at camps in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon on the refugee selection process.