According to the latest Life in Australia report by Ipsos, Warrnambool is the most liveable region in Australia.
The report evaluated areas in both metropolitan and regional Australia, with Warrnambool and South Western Victoria being awarded the top score of 68.7.
Regions were scored against a number of indicators:
- Feeling safe
- High quality health services
- Affordable decent housing
- Good job prospects
- Access to the natural environment
- A strong sense of community
- High quality education opportunities
- A prosperous economy
- Opportunity for all
- Reliable and efficient public transport
- Social cohesion; connectivity
- Shopping, leisure and dining
- A lack of road congestion
- Viewing and participating in sports and recreation
- Museums, galleries and festivals
Following Warrnambool and South Western Victoria, the top ten regions throughout Australia include Perth – Inner (68.6), Adelaide – Central & Hills (67), Sydney – Eastern Suburbs (65.8), Melbourne – Inner South (65), Melbourne – Inner East (64.9), Brisbane Inner City (64.8), Perth – North West (64.2), South Australia – South East (63.9) and Sydney – North Sydney and Hornsby (63.7).
Despite being topped by a regional area, the top 10 is dominated by metropolitan areas, particularly in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.
On the other hand, the lowest-ranked regions include Sydney – South West (49.1), Sydney – Blacktown (51.9), Brisbane – Logan – Beaudesert (53.1), Queensland – Central Queensland (53.3), Melbourne – West (53.5), Sydney – Parramatta (53.6), Melbourne – North West (53.7), Darwin (54.1), New South Wales – Capital Region (55.3) and Perth – North East (55.5).
The lowest-ranked regions are in Sydney. Considering Sydney also dominates the list of the best-ranked regions, this suggests a highly divided city separated by haves and have-nots.
