One in five Aussies open to leaving their capital city and going regional
New research shows city-slickers in four Australian capitals are open to leaving them and moving to the country. Picture: John Feder (The Australian).
Aussie city-slickers will be the target of a new $4.6m campaign to get the one in five of them thinking about moving regional to hurry up and do so.
The Regional Australia Institute will next month launch a nationwide effort to win the “hearts and minds” of capital city residents aged 25-50, after recently finding 20 per cent of them were already open to the idea.
The bid to entice people away from the big smoke will highlight less traffic, the aproximately 54,000 currently vacant jobs in regional areas and a better life balance.
RELATED: Contemplating a city escape and the possible pitfalls of a sea change
Australia’s busiest home building year: HIA forecasts record, but ‘dark shadow’ for 2023
Regional housing markets boom as capital city values splutter back to life
But it comes at an inopportune time for cities already struggling to entice workers back to CBDs amid COVID-19 outbreaks.
A more than 1000-person survey commissioned by the RAI found a fifth of those in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne were open to the idea of a regional move, two thirds of them considering doing so within the year. COVID-19 gave 61 per cent more motivation to move.
Up to a fifth of those living in Brisbane and its suburbs are believed to be considering a move to a nearby regional city or hub.
Most would look to stay within two hours of their former home, many preferring larger coastal towns, but 22 per cent were open to moving up to four hours away.
RAI chief executive Liz Ritchie said the aim was to fill about 54,000 vacant regional jobs and “help rebalance the population for the whole nation”.
The group stopped short of setting a number of capital city residents they would seek to lure away, but haven’t ruled one out in the future.
Regional cities such as Geelong in Victoria could soon benefit from a push to fill regional job vacancies.
“We want to capture hearts and minds,” Ms Ritchie said.
“We are interested in families and those who want a better life.”
“The next measure beyond this, and with another campaign, will really hone in on that population movement.”
The RAI will formally launch their campaign at their national summit on March 17, with the assistance of deputy Prime Minister and Regional Development Minister Michael McCormack, and discuss it at the National Press Club on Tuesday.
Mr McCormack said affordable and enjoyable lifestyles, as well as “a great cup of coffee” awaited those who made the move.
Properties on the Gold Coast have been outperforming those in Brisbane lately.
“There are plenty more opportunities to come as the Australian Government continues to invest in the regions with major infrastructure projects such as Inland Rail and building that connectivity – in communications and transport – that allows someone to work as effectively in Mildura as they do in Melbourne, in Singleton as they do in Sydney and in Bundaberg as they do in Brishbane,” he said.
However, realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conisbee warned affordability and congestion issues could move to country towns with exiting city dwellers if their population grew too quickly.
More from news
There are major concerns about the health of Melbourne’s CBD after extensive lockdowns caused by COVID-19 spreading around the city.
“I don’t disagree with the decentralisation of activity, but right now the bigger problem isn’t regional Australia — it’s our inner-city cores, where there are big questions around the viability of them in the coming years,” Ms Conisbee said.
She said in Victoria search data indicated most relocators would probably head to Geelong, Ballarat or Bendigo.
In NSW, Wollongong and the Central Coast could benefit, while Queensland’s Sunshine and Gold Coasts already had stronger property markets than Brisbane.
Ballarat in regional Victoria has provided a sweet life for the Davidson family who moved there from Melbourne three years ago.
Jade and Lachlan Davidson, along with their daughters Holly, 3, and Audrey, 1, are living the sweet life after moving to Ballarat in central Victoria from the Melbourne suburb of Coburg three years ago.
Neither had a job in town or any family or friends waiting for them when they moved, but now Ms Davidson runs her own artisan chocolate store, Lucky and James, while Mr Davidson works for confectioner Mars.
“I certainly never expected this life, but I love it and I’m so glad we moved,” Ms Davidson said.
MORE: Robbie Williams buys dream villa in Switzerland for $42.9 million
Ruslan Kogan: Tech entrepreneur spends $15m on neighbouring Flinders properties
Australian golf legend Greg Norman finds a buyer for his $77 million island compound