More people considering a regional move as experts warn about infrastructure needs

Harriet Oxenham can't imagine going back to the busy work life of the city. The second-year paramedic moved to the Gippsland town of Leongatha, with a population of about 6,000, in July as part of her work with Ambulance Victoria. She now has absolutely no plans to return home.

“Initially I was commuting to Leongatha every day, but then I fell in love with the community here in Gippsland,” Ms Oxenham said. The 26-year-old said she has about a dozen second-year paramedic colleagues who have done the same. The fresh country air and community atmosphere, not to mention a more affordable rental market, have proven deeply attractive to them.

“I mean, I get stopped in the street by people who are my patients, and they thank me,” she said. “That never happened when I was working in metro Melbourne.”

New research from the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) suggests more people are considering following Ms Oxenham’s lead. The number of capital city residents considering a move to the country has doubled in the past 18 months, with 40 per cent of respondents in the organisation’s latest national survey considering a relocation. RAI chief executive Liz Ritchie said the numbers were positive in many ways, but should also be a wake-up call to policymakers, industry, and regional leaders.

“The demand for regional living has never been higher, but as a nation we are not keeping up with providing the basic ingredients that are needed,” she said. Ms Ritchie said issues such as housing remained the “Achilles heel” of regional revitalisation plans, with a lack of housing deterring city dwellers from considering a move. “Many regions are already struggling with housing, particularly in the rental market, and this will only be exacerbated unless targeted regional policy measures are put in place,” she said.

The RAI specifically pointed to Cairns in Far North Queensland as a regional city feeling the squeeze on housing. The town’s population has grown by 5.2 per cent in the past five years, resulting in a tight rental market. “If this trend continues, we could see the region exceed 280,000 residents by 2026, well above current government projections,” Cairns Regional Development Corporation chief executive Jacinta Reddan said.

Ms Reddan said Cairns had experienced rental vacancy rates below 1 per cent for 40 of the past 50 months. The RAI’s progress report showed rental vacancy rates across regional Australia had dropped by 0.2 per cent to 1.3 per cent in the past year, with building approvals and the proportion of migrants settling in the regions also declining. However, the RAI also had good news to celebrate. The number of doctors living in the regions had increased, as had the proportion of the population aged between 15 and 39. But according to Liz Ritchie, this means that job opportunities are needed.

“The RAI is calling for a long-term plan for the future of regional Australia that takes into account population flows, skilled labour needs, service delivery and infrastructure requirements,” she said. The content of this article is no longer available.

For some who have already made the change, the benefits are clear. Now is the time to share the message. Zoe Carney moved from metro Melbourne to rural Victoria in January this year to take up a role as a psychology teacher in north-west Victoria. This prompted her to share her story on TikTok to inspire other teachers to take the plunge.

“The work-life balance is amazing, and it’s a huge advantage financially,” Ms Carney said. The 29-year-old lives in a small town where everyone knows her name, and her students also know where she lives. This has resulted in after-hours practice exams being dropped into her letterbox, a touching but very personal part of her job that she enjoys. “You can really take the time to help students and feel like you’re making a big difference to their learning and being a positive role model for them,” she said. “I think a lot of teachers either don’t know about the opportunity … or maybe don’t know what value moving to the country could give them.”

Back in Inverloch, Harriet Oxenham is settling into country life and looking forward to spending summer by the sea. She is not sure how long the romance and laid-back lifestyle of rural Victoria will hold her and her cat, Loki, but she is not going back to working in metro Melbourne. “In metro Melbourne, it’s very much: in, out,” she said. “You’re stuck in the hospital for so long, and everyone seems grumpy and overworked. Whereas you come here, and people are very grateful for the work that you do.”

“The paramedics here … we’ve created our own family, and I think that’s a lot easier to happen in a rural area than it is in a city.”