One of the most important decisions an immigrant makes when migrating here is deciding where in Australia to move to. Australia is a very big country comprised of bustling cities as well as quieter regional areas. When picking the location that best fits you, I think one of the first steps is figuring out whether living in a major city would work out better for you than if you chose to live in a regional area.
It seems that most of the newly arrived immigrants usually settle in the more popular cities like Sydney and Melbourne. I think this may be partly because they don’t know much about the lesser known cities or regional areas may not sound appealing to them. Today, we will be talking about the different location options you can consider for when you migrate to Australia.
Major Cities and Regional Areas — Defined
In basic terms, a regional area is any small city or town that’s located beyond the major capital cities. There are 8 capital cities in Australia, these are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and Hobart.
I want to note though that the above definition is different from how major cities and regional areas are classified for migration purposes according to the Department of Home Affairs. These are:
- Major Cities- Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane
- Cities and Major Regional Centres- Perth, Adelaide, Hobart,Newcastle/ Lake Macquarie, Woolongong/ Illawarra, Geelong, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Canberra
- Regional Centres and Other Regional Areas- list of post codes.
Differences Between Major Cities and Regional Areas
As you would’ve probably guessed, the cost of living in major cities is higher than that of the regional areas. The main factor driving this would be accommodation but some services such as child care are also less affordable in the cities. The prices of accommodation in Australia would vary depending on your proximity from a capital city or from a CBD (central business district). In general, the further away you are from the aforementioned areas, the lesser you’ll have to pay for accommodation.
Since I live in Queensland, I’d like to compare the rent prices in Brisbane with the rent prices in the regional area where I currently live, Rockhampton. To paint a better picture, Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland while Rockhampton is a major regional centre in Central QLD. It is known as the Beef Capital of Australia and is around 7 hours drive or 1 hour flight to Brisbane. I used RealEstate.com to look up average rent prices for houses that has sort of a similar look and has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and a space for a car. As of writing, the average price for the ones in Brisbane (Greater Region) is $390/week and the ones for Rockhampton (Greater Region) is $330/week.
Employment Opportunities
When it comes to employment opportunities, CBDs located within the major cities obviously offer more because there are plenty of business establishments in the area. But one should consider the fact that the population in the bigger cities mean higher competition. As with the regional areas, a common misconception I’d say (based on experience) is that there are barely any jobs to be had but that is usually not the case.
Regional areas still have a good number of businesses around and your chances of securing an employment might even be higher because the number of applicants wouldn’t be as much as in the major cities. Visa wise, there are some incentives in place if a skilled migrant or an international student chooses to migrate to a regional area in Australia. These are listed on the Department of Home Affairs website.
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Public Transport
In the major cities, you’d see ample of options for public transport such as buses, trams, trains, scooters etc. You’ll be able to access these quite easily. In the regional areas however, though there’s still some public transport (we only have buses where I live), they’re not as easily accessible. The buses where I live don’t run as often as they do in the major cities but most people here usually just drive around anyway. I’ve never really seen much traffic congestion here.
Health services
There are a couple differences that I’ve noticed with the availability of health services in the regional areas and the capital cities. One of the main ones being that people in regional communities would often have to travel to the capital cities for certain treatments/ surgeries. We do have good hospitals nearby though. You may also need to wait a bit longer to see a doctor in the regions, much more so in rural and remote areas.
Recreational Activities
When you live in a major city, you have an easy access to everything you could possibly think of. There you’ll find huge shopping centres with all of the big brands, really good restaurants, cinemas, and everything else. When you live in a regional area, you would also have access to these facilities. Maybe just not as big or as varied. There are definitely more options in the cities and the food is so much better there, in my opinion.
Lifestyle/Culture
From my perspective, regional areas are more communal while major cities are more ‘everyone for themselves’. There are more opportunities to integrate in regional communities but I also think that they’re not as exposed to different cultures as the people from the major cities. The regions have a slower pace of life while the big cities are fast paced.
Living in a regional area — how it’s been for me
To be honest, I think it’s been good. It’s beautiful here, lots of trees and we’re quite close to the beach. We were also not as affected by the pandemic here, so that was a plus. There’s a good sized shopping centre, cinema, grocery stores, parks, museums, restaurants, schools/uni, libraries, airport and other essential establishments within 15 minutes drive.
Living in a regional area in Australia really isn’t bad like most imagine. Yes, it’s very different from the main cities but it has its charms. This was where I had my first few job experiences and got my Aussie driver’s license. This was where I created my first impressions of Australia so it will always be special. But the big cities are also really nice, exciting, and bustling. They’re so pretty, specially at night with all the lights. And you’ll never run out of things to do!
Disclaimer All content and information in this post is for purposes of sharing my experiences only, does not constitute professional advice and does not establish any kind of professional-client relationship.
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Things To Save Money on As You Start Out in Australia - My Aussie Story · June 9, 2022 at 5:35 pm
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