Greater Geelong has toppled Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to become the country’s most popular destination among Australian movers, after securing regional Australia’s biggest share of net internal migration.
The latest Regional Movers Index (RMI) report shows in the 12 months to the March quarter, the Greater Geelong local government (LGA) had a 9.3 percent share of total net internal migration, compared with the Sunshine Coast’s 8.9 percent.
It comes amid an uptick of movement out of metropolitan areas to the regions, with capital city to regional relocations increasing by almost 11 percent.
Greater Geelong’s ascent on the leaderboard was set against a background of a rise in popularity in regional Victoria as a whole – the state capturing 34 percent of the total net inflows into all of regional Australia during the March 2025 quarter, larger than the 28 percent share in the March 2024 quarter.
RAI chief executive Liz Ritchie said the data in this quarter’s report demonstrates shifting migration patterns within Australia.
“The nation’s love affair with regional living is showing no signs of abating with 25 per cent more people moving from capital cities to the regions, than back in the opposite direction. Further, net migration to regional Australia is now sitting 40 per cent higher than the prevailing level in the pre-pandemic era,” she said.
“Regional Australia is being reimagined. The regions’ enviable lifestyle offerings, buoyant jobs market, position as an economic leader and variety in communities are proving to be an ongoing lure, particularly for those in metropolitan areas. Contemporary regional Australia has what people are looking for and it’s clear clichéd images and misconceptions about regional living are well and truly a thing of the past.”
