Living in Regional Victoria webinar and learnings for local government

Community views
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Daniel  Evans

Daniel Evans

Head of Sales & Retention (Gov.)

Key Highlights

  • The "Living in Regional Victoria" webinar, held on 17 February 2022, brought together representatives from over 30 Regional Victorian Local Government Areas (LGAs) to discuss residents' perspectives on liveability and quality of life.
  • Five Key Insights Identified:
    1. Regional Victoria is perceived as highly liveable by its residents.
    2. Residents have clear values and priorities for advancing quality of life.
    3. Access to the natural environment is a significant strength.
    4. High-quality health services are both a strength and an area of concern.
    5. Provision of affordable, decent housing presents both opportunities and challenges.
  • The webinar introduced "Living in Place," a tool leveraging data from the Ipsos Life in Australia Survey, enabling LGAs to access and apply insights at both LGA and sub-LGA levels for strategic planning and advocacy.
  • Examples from the City of Ipswich and Sunshine Coast Regional Council illustrate how councils are utilizing "Living in Place" to inform their strategic initiatives and community engagement efforts.

More than 8 million people live in Regional and Rural Australia. And, while the ongoing pandemic has shone a light on many of the positive qualities associated with making a home in a regional area, the question still remains as to how liveable these communities are, and what the residents themselves believe needs to happen to advance quality of life.


To support the launch of our latest offer into local government, Living in Place, we looked at this topic through the eyes of Regional Victorians – hosting a webinar on 17 February 2022 with representatives from more than 30 Regional Victorian LGAs to talk through what their communities’ believe makes somewhere a good place to live, how they experience these items in their local areas and what needs to advance quality of life. You can watch the full webinar here, or check out the five key insights we spoke through on the day:

  • Regional Victoria is quite liveable.
  • Regional Victorians have a clear set of values and priorities around what needs to happen to advance quality of life.
  • Access to the natural environment is an area of absolute and relative strength for Regional Victoria.
  • Access to and experiences of high quality health services is an area of strength and concern.
  • The provision of affordable decent housing presents an opportunity and a challenge.

What does this mean for local government?

While the webinar served up some interesting insights, the real value for local government decision makers is in being able to access this data and harness these insights at the LGA and sub-LGA levels. If you’d like to read more about how a growing and diverse number of councils are using Living in Place to inform their stragegic planning and advocacy, read these case studies from the City of Ipswich and Sunshine Coast Regional Council or simply get in touch to arrange an introductory session for your LGA.

Data informing this webinar was drawn from the Ipsos Life in Australia Survey.

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