The City of Boroondara (Kew, Camberwell, Hawthorn) rated as having the highest liveability of any Melbourne area, but was beaten out by Subiaco in W.A.
The Australian Liveability Census, conducted by Place Score, has conducted a wide-ranging survey of Australian households and how they rank the liveability of their suburbs. Over 50,000 responses were collected from residents of every state and territory.
The City of Boroondara, in Melbourne’s east, topped the Victorian rankings and Victoria performed the strongest of any Australian state overall, beating New South Wales and the overall Australian average by the same margin. Victorians’ satisfaction with their livability overall has increased since the last census was taken in 2021, in comparison to a substantial decrease north of the border.
The City of Port Phillip also ranked very highly, home to the affluent, older and highly established areas of St Kilda, Prahran, Port Melbourne and Albert Park.
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Worrying signs for the mental health age gap
People surveyed valued their natural environment, public open spaces, neighbourhood amenities, the quality of local businesses, walking paths and their own personal safety as the most important factors when ranking livability, in that order. 71% or over 18,000 people surveyed agreed, that having unique natural features, whether trees, topography, views, water elements or the like, was important in their ideal neighbourhood.
People over 65-years-old reported the highest satisfaction with their livability, while there was a whopping 28% difference in values between the older and younger (under 25 years) cohort. A 28% gap in valuing things to do in the evening, local employment opportunities (20%), range of housing prices and tenures (15%), connectivity (15%) and sustainable behaviours in the community (14%).
Particularly worrying, the census also asked people to rate their mental health, with the lowest rating coming from those aged under 25 years (where only 57% report good or better mental health), and improving significantly with age (92% of over 64s report good or better mental health).
The report did show that Victoria and New South Wales were the best places to live for the under 25s, despite cost of living pressures forcing 25-44 year olds to rate liveability lower across the board in Australia.
Overall, medium density suburbs performed best in the rankings, proving the best of both worlds.
To download the report, head here.
