Regional Queensland is still the big draw card for Australia’s shifting population.
Regional Queensland is still the big draw card for Australia’s shifting population.
Regional Queensland is still the big draw card for Australia’s shifting population, with dramatic shifts in Queensland’s population being revealed in a new report which shows the move to the regions from capital cities sparked by Covid was still going.
The drivers were jobs and housing affordability with about 80,000 job vacancies in regional Australia last month alone.
Migration from regions to capitals is making up for lost ground during 2020 and 2021. These flows grew to their highest level in the series’ history to account for 10 per cent of internal migration in the December 2022 quarter.
Overall net migration from capitals to regions in 2022 still averaged 45% more than the average in the two years prior to the pandemic.
Perth and Brisbane proved enticing for those moving from other capital cities and regions to record strong net migration inflows in 2022.
The Gold Coast was still one of the most popular destinations among all people who were moving, but the pattern of migration showed that people were moving from capitals to a regional centre and then moving again to another regional centre.
Regional Australia Institute chief executive Liz Ritchie says the impact of capital city movers to the regions is now having a flow on effect to other regional places, many of which have historically seen limited population growth.
The areas experiencing significant net migration increases would certainly be feeling the impact on house prices and rents, local services, and infrastructure.
“For that reason, policy makers, industry and regional leaders need to heed these results, to ensure adequate planning and resourcing is put in place to accommodate demand both now and in coming decades,” Ritchie said.
“The regional housing squeeze is just one example of what can happen when we haven’t prepared for growth. The low growth ‘business as usual’ trends before 2020 has led to underinvestment in some regional areas.”
Commonwealth Bank executive general manager for regional and agribusiness banking Paul Fowler said there was a slight drop of just 0.8% in the number of people moving from cities to regional towns in the December quarter, well below the typical rate of around 8% normally experienced over the holiday season period.
“This confirms that regional hubs are continuing to attract thousands of metro movers,” Fowler said.
The latest dataset also revealed that regional people are leaving these areas for other inland centres or coastal towns, with a growing number opting to move even further away from Sydney and Melbourne.
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