The Regional Australia Institute (RAI) yesterday unveiled a multi-million-dollar national awareness campaign, encouraging city-dwellers to find their new home in the regions and Move to More.
The multi-platform campaign – Move to More – positions regional Australia as an attractive and viable alternative to capital city living, with opportunities for a more affordable lifestyle and a better work-life balance.
Backed by the federal government, the campaign was launched at the RAI Regions Rising National Summit in Canberra, and RAI CEO Liz Ritchie says it will play a critical role in promoting the opportunities to live, work and invest in regional Australia.
“As Australia’s only think-tank dedicated to regional issues, the RAI has been calling for an intervention in the projected population settlement of our nation. Move to More provides a new narrative that will encourage a societal shift and be a turning point for our country to re-think regional,” Ritchie said.
“The Move to More campaign is designed to showcase the regions as a place of abundance, but equally it’s about promoting the opportunities that we know exist. Most people have the desire to achieve more, give more and do more during their life – this is universal. Move to More invites people to search for the ‘more’ they have been longing for.”
She said it was apparent people wanted more value for their money, more time, more opportunities, and a better connection with the environment and their community.“
“Regional Australia has been one of the country’s best kept secrets but not for much longer.
Our campaign will reach out to the hearts and minds of the one-in-five metropolitan residents looking to make the move,” Ritchie said.
The campaign was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack who said living in a regional, rural, remote, country or coastal community didn’t just bring a better quality of life but the potential of a well-paying job too.
“Regional Australia offers so much that capital cities just cannot – a big backyard, less time commuting, more time with loved ones and a stronger sense of community,” McCormack said.
The campaign is the first of its kind in Australia and the collateral includes television commercials, print ads, billboards, digital marketing and social media advertising which will be seen across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, starting in April.
The Move to More website will help people find the right town for them. It invites users to take a short quiz and then filters functional aspects (housing, employment, transport, schools, health and entertainment) to arrive at a selection of towns that meets their desires.
“We are on the cusp of a major paradigm shift towards regionalisation,” said Ritchie. “We believe Move to More will help accelerate this positive change for the benefit of the nation and will assist all levels of government to capitalise on it.
“Regionalisation is a vision for our future – a future that is more balanced, more equitable, more sustainable and more prosperous for our entire nation.”
Melbourne lawyer Alicia Chisholm was about to travel to the United Kingdom to broaden her career in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic crashed her plans.
Instead, she decided to try regional living and moved to Burnie in north-western Tasmania, where she works as a Crown Counsel with the Office of Public Prosecutions.
She said the move has given her professional opportunities she could only dream of elsewhere.
“Nowhere else would I be at my career level doing what I do,” she said.
She and her partner Paul Cenoz have swapped the inner city for a view of the ocean – and they save $150 a week on rent.
“We’ve saved a huge deposit for a property,” she said.
Alicia now walks to work and doesn’t think she could ever go back to a city commute.
“Instead of being exhausted on the weekend, I have energy to explore this amazing place and do things like rock-climbing, white-water rafting and hiking,” she enthused.
“There’s a great community of young professionals. As soon as I arrived, people from other law firms said, ‘you’re new, how about we catch up for a coffee?’”
