Regions remain popular for tree-changers escaping the cities

By Murray Silby

Jun 1, 2023

Welcoming: The new Campaspe Shire sign as you enter Elmore from the Heathcote side. Photo by Elaine Cooney

It’s not really breaking news to report that people continue to move from Australia’s major cities to its regions, including Greater Shepparton and the wider Goulburn Valley, but it would seem people have also begun returning to the cities.

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The growing pains as a result of the seismic shift that saw hundreds of thousands move to the regions in recent years, most notably during the pandemic, continue to be felt locally, with a lack of housing and a strain on services, but the Regional Australia Institute has just released the March quarter Regional Movers Index, which makes for interesting reading.

The index is prepared in partnership with the Commonwealth Bank and analyses the quarterly and annual trends in people moving to and from Australia’s regional areas.

It has found that capital-to-regional migration rose 7.9 per cent, its third highest level in the past five years, with net outflows from Melbourne rising significantly, from 44 per cent to 51 per cent of the city-to-region migration across the country, in the 12 months to March 2023.

Regional Victoria accounted for 43 per cent, nationally, of the arrivals from capital cities.

Campaspe Shire was among the top five regional growth hotspots in the 12 months to March 2023 for total net internal migration (within Australia), with Strathbogie Shire another with a large increase.

Regional Australia Institute chief executive Liz Ritchie said the results spoke to the trend of an increasingly mobile population in the wake of increased job flexibility.

“While this mobility was super-charged by COVID, we are seeing thousands make the move, not only from the cities to the regions, but within regions and more recently, there has been an uptick in the number heading back to the cities,” she said.

Free registration for eligible apprentices

The Andrews Government’s policy of free vehicle registration for Victorian apprentices launches on July 1.

The $10 million initiative could save eligible apprentices up to $865 a year.

The policy was included in the 2023/24 state budget and is available to apprentices whose employer can verify that the vehicle they drive is an essential part of their work.

“This is all about making it easier for our apprentices to get the skills they need for the jobs they want,” Skills and Training Minister Gayle Tierney said.

Apprentices can apply for free vehicle registration via the myVicRoads portal on the VicRoads website: https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/online-services/login