Housing affordability, lifestyle key reasons people are increasingly opting for remote Australia

The idea of moving from a bustling city to some of the most remote areas in Australia is not for everyone.

But with a rising of cost-of-living, more people are opting for a tree change in search of a country lifestyle and cheaper housing.

Caitlin Buckle, lecturer in City Planning at the University of NSW, says over the past few years people’s attitudes towards migrating regionally have changed.

“There is a sense that COVID may have caused a bit of a reconsideration about life priorities and influenced people to want to try something a little bit different,” Dr Buckle says.

Living a ‘farm-life’ dream

Deb and Ian Green came across Silverton during a caravan trip across NSW.

The married couple of 24 years quickly fell in love with the red-dirt country township that has a population of less than 50 people.

“It was as soon as we drove in, there was just something [about it] … the old style just drew us in,” Ms Green says.

The couple say they had been itching for a while to move from Yerrinbool in NSW’s Southern Highlands to somewhere that offered a bit more of a “farm-like” lifestyle.

“Five to 10 years ago, we wanted to get, as a lot of people do, a 100-acre farm, with a little farmhouse … but it just wasn’t quite the right place or the right time,” Ms Green says.

“But we always wanted that space and the animals.”

Then during a chance visit to Silverton, they spotted a house with a “For Sale” sign.

“We made an offer and then came back [to Silverton] again. And the owner let us stay here for a couple of nights to sort of test-drive the house,” Ms Green says.

“And so, we stayed in, met a couple of the locals, and it just went from there.”

The couple say their new home is a dream come true.

“I can look out my window today and see the cows walking past, which [are] owned by the community, or the horses or the donkeys up the road,” Ms Green says.

“It’s a really lovely, unique lifestyle.”

A unique solution to the housing crisis

The Greens’ move to remote NSW has also benefited their adult daughter, who like many millennials and gen Zs, has been trying to navigate the housing crisis while raising a daughter of her own.

Due to the relative affordability of their new home in Silverton, the couple did not need to sell their Southern Highlands house, meaning their daughter could move in.

“Because things are so expensive, it’s so hard to help your kids if you don’t have spare money,” Ms Green says.

“But one thing we could do was … keep the family home and [our daughter] could use it and look after it and then she’d have safety for her and our granddaughter.”

And these kinds of housing decisions are ones more Australians are considering.

The new trends in regional migration

New research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) shows that housing affordability is increasingly becoming a key reason why people are moving to regional areas.

“Housing is such a big cost in people’s lives, that both renting and deciding to purchase in regional areas can be quite desirable,” Dr Buckle says.

“And we might even see it continue to be quite a big factor in people’s decision-making as house prices stay so high.”

In addition to housing, the AHURI research also cited employment and lifestyle factors as other key motivators for moving regionally.

Dr Buckle says these lifestyle reasons include seeking a “better work-life balance”, “sense of adventure”and “sense of community”.

It’s all about community

Conrad Brown and Shona Collins moved from the Gold Coast over three years ago to the remote town of Wilcannia in the Far West of New South Wales.

They too left behind their family home for their daughter to reside in, noting that the cost of living is making it hard for many young people to afford their own home.

“I just think it’s the interest rates, the wages aren’t increasing,” says Ms Collins, a trained chef by trade.

The couple of 15 years now own the local cafe in Wilcannia, a town with a population of less than 800 people.

They say that despite the stigma that has clouded the town historically, when they came across Wilcannia they really connected with the locals.

“The people are just beautiful in this town,” Mr Brown says.

“Like everyone says, ‘Oh, don’t go to Wilcannia, drive straight through.’ Well, Wilcannia is clean, it’s tidy, the locals are brilliant,” Ms Collins adds.

“And so [changing that idea] is what we’re working on.”

The couple have become pillars in the community, who take pride in giving locals employment in a region with limited opportunities, collectively calling their young cafe employees “their girls”.

“These girls came along and really didn’t know anything about a cafe. But we’ve gone through everything, and now they can do just about anything in the place,” Mr Brown says.

“So now they can literally get in the car, drive to Sydney and work in any cafe and they’re gonna get a job there because they are so qualified.”

Although Ms Collins hopes they’ll stay in town.

“We’ve told the girls we eventually want them to run the place,” she says.

And the Greens say they know the feeling of wanting to keep a community together.

“We want everybody to be welcome and come round and have a cuppa,” Ms Green says.

“We hope that we can do good while we’re here too and be a blessing to the community.”