Australia is regarded across the globe as a great place to live.
Overwhelmingly, Australians think so too with 99% of us agreeing Australia is a great place to live, work and raise a family.
National Australia Bank (NAB) today released its second annual survey looking at the reasons behind this.
Fulll Survey here: NAB Economics Survey – What Makes Australia a Great Place to Live 2016
“When I’m out talking to business owners across the country they tell me Australia is a great place to live, work and do business,” said Angela Mentis, NAB Group Executive Business Banking.
“We’ve got an enviable lifestyle and culture, a strong and stable economy and access to quality education and healthcare. People from all over the world come here to holiday, live and work. This drives growth and more opportunities for the economy.”
“Australians continue to consider safety as the number one reason why Australia is such a great place to live,” said Alan Oster, NAB Chief Economist.
“Australians love the outdoors so unsurprisingly access to open spaces, white sandy beaches, parks and our natural wonders like the 12 Apostles, Sydney’s northern beaches, Uluru, Kakadu, Cable Beach, the Great Barrier Reef or Tasmania’s pristine wilderness clearly add to how we feel about our quality of life.
“Access to quality healthcare rated third highest with almost 1 in 3 Australians saying it made Australia a great place to live, while at the other end of the spectrum, just 5% valued our housing options and affordability and only 3% our transport and public infrastructure,” Mr Oster said.
In the second annual survey, NAB has taken another look at the reasons that make Australia great.
The research found that:
- The relative safety and security of Australia (36%) and general lifestyle and friendliness (35%) continue to be cited as the key factors making Australia such a great place to live.
- Access to Australia’s wide open spaces, beautiful pristine beaches and green parks, climate, clean environment and unique natural wonders continued to be highly valued by around 1 in 4 Australians.
- 18% of Australians believe that a strong and stable economy impacted their liveability in Australia (18%) in the 2016 survey (21% in 2015), which is perhaps not surprising given weaker 15% of Australians cited access to quality education as a driver of liveability (19% in 2015).
- Our people and their acceptance of diversity was recognised as a bigger drawcard by 17% of Australians (up from 13% in 2015), while the number who valued a love of sport climbed to 11% (8% in 2015).
- Differences are found, depending on where you live. For example, safety and security was valued most highly in SA/NT (43%) and contributed least in WA (31%) and Victoria (31%). Climate was a much stronger drawcard in WA (29%) and Queensland (28%) than in Victoria (17%) and Tasmania (14%). People and an acceptance of diversity was most highly valued in NSW/ACT (21%), but access to quality education (17%), a love of sport (14%) and entertainment options (9)resonated most with Victorians, while general lifestyle & friendliness was a much bigger factor for Tasmanians (54%).
The survey of 1032 people was conducted between 13-18 January 2016.
