They found community, but no doctors: couple's dream meets regional reality

They relocated to regional Victoria, drawn by the promise of affordable housing, a tighter-knit community and a stress-free lifestyle.

"I've never lived in the country, but I really liked the idea of raising kids in a small town and being able to have a backyard, to know people on your street, grow vegetables and live in a community," Gen said.

In many ways, they found the life they were searching for. With their two young children, they felt they'd hit the jackpot arriving in the welcoming, creative community of Castlemaine.

The couple, whose surname has been withheld to protect their professional privacy, bought an affordable family home with a backyard, met a circle of friends and found stimulating jobs.

"It probably took a little while to get to know people, but now it's pretty rare for us to go down the street without seeing someone that we know," James said.

But Gen said living in the country also had what she called a "dark side" - specifically, a worrying lack of access to healthcare and childcare.

"When we moved to town, we wouldn't have been able to get into a GP if I wasn't pregnant," Gen said.

"There are three GPs in town and mine's also my obstetrician, so he agreed to take the family on his books. Otherwise, you can't get in to see a GP; there's a waiting list of at least 100 people."

Gen did not have the same success securing childcare. She put her youngest son on a waiting list when she was just six weeks pregnant, but doesn't expect him to be accepted in time.

READ MORE: Women, Gen-X carrying the load for Australia, new Heartbeat study shows

"He's 20th on the list, so he's not going to get in," she said. "The infrastructure just can't keep up with the population moving here."

The experiences of Gen and James mirror the findings of the 2025 Heartbeat of Australia study, which reveals that while many young Australians are thriving after ditching the city, the reality of life living in the regions doesn't always live up to the dream, as issues with limited access to crucial infrastructure persist.

Conducted by Australian Regional Insights and the University of Canberra, the fourth annual Heartbeat survey captures the sentiment of Australians in 2025.

More than 7000 people living in regional and metropolitan areas took part. Australian Regional Insights is the research arm of ACM, the publisher of this masthead.

The 2025 research found a preference for regional living overall, with seven per cent of respondents identifying as tree-changers and sea-changers compared to only four per cent moving to the city.

Many regional movers highlighted the strong sense of community they - like Gen and James - had found.

The survey showed that those regional movers felt more satisfied with their life and personal circumstances than their city counterparts, particularly regarding personal safety and a sense of belonging.

In regional communities, there was a stronger feeling that residents helped each other when times were tough, a sense of community bolstered by shopping local and events like festivals and farmers' markets.

Engaging with local news also created a feeling of connection, the survey found, with more than three-quarters of regional movers saying that greater access to information and stories helped them feel part of the community.

Regional residents reported higher satisfaction with their drive to work: 29 per cent liked the time they spent commuting, compared to 24 per cent of metro people.

While about two-thirds of those who moved to regional Australia felt their life had improved, 15 per cent said their life had "changed for the worse" after relocating.

Those who had shifted from major metropolitan cities said they had struggled most with "reduced access to urban conveniences, particularly shopping, public transport, and healthcare".

Moving also had financial and career-related effects, including scarcer job opportunities and lower wages, as well as isolation and a lack of diverse cultural and recreational options.

There are the kinds of issues Gen and James say they faced, challenges highlighted in the Regional Australia Institute's latest Regionalisation Ambition report.

"Australia has been caught on the hop by a regional renaissance with critical services, infrastructure and skills playing catch-up to population growth," institute CEO Liz Ritchie said.

Heartbeat data shows Generation Z and Millennials are driving the regional-to-metro shift, moving at a higher rate than older Australians, while regional migration is spread more evenly among age groups.

Interestingly, the migration flow isn't one-way. Almost a quarter of people who moved from the country to the city ultimately returned to the regions, the survey noted.

For regional movers who thrive, the payoff in wellbeing and community outweighs the frustration of waiting lists and reduced services.

READ MORE: Your dream job and lifestyle in regional Australia just got easier to find

Just ask Lewis Romano, founder of ViewJobs and a recent migrant to the NSW north coast.

Mr Romano said his days changed dramatically after moving from Melbourne to Byron Bay with his young family. The entrepreneur was delighted to trade peak-hour traffic for the extra hours in his day.

"If I spill something on my shirt, I can go home and be back at the office in 15 minutes," he said.

"Regional areas are amazing environments to make improvements in all areas of your life."

But he acknowledged the challenges highlighted by Heartbeat and the infrastructure issues as more tree-changers and sea-changers arrive in the regions.

"It doesn't work out for everyone. Not everyone survives and not everyone thrives," Mr Romano said.

ViewJobs recently replaced Seek as the official jobs partner of the Regional Australia Institute, powering its movetomore.com.au portal's job search function and connecting job seekers to regional roles and helping regional businesses tap into a broader talent pool.

"There's a common misconception that there are no jobs in regional Australia," Mr Romano said.

"But there are over 60,000 [listings] on Viewjobs in regional Australia, from entry-level dishhand work to high-paid executive roles and everything in between."

Australia's leading regional employment platform, ViewJobs was launched in March 2024 in partnership with ACM, the publisher of this masthead.