The Millennial migration: Qld records highest interstate arrivals as people leave NSW, Vic

More young people are leaving NSW and Victoria to move to Queensland as the “Millennial migration” between Australian states is expected to peak.

The shift comes as Brisbane’s emerging global-city status continues to draw interstate interest, and will soon attract international migrants and overseas investment.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows Queensland gained the most people, about 7000, from net interstate migration over the March 2021 quarter, while Victoria lost the most at almost 5000, followed closely by NSW at 4500 people.

In the March 2020 quarter, Queensland recorded the most arrivals across the country at 24,000.

The state also recorded the highest arrivals again in March this year, at 28,500.

The ABS said in net terms, NSW only gained people from Victoria, 880, and lost most to Queensland, about 3800.

NSW and Victoria recorded lower arrivals than departures for the March 2021 quarter, while South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory and the ACT had higher arrivals than departures, echoing Queensland.

Social researcher Mark McCrindle said Queensland was yet to see the peak in interstate arrivals, which would occur once there were no travel restrictions.

He said younger people were realising they could have the housing affordability and lifestyle of Queensland, and the job market was expanding.

Social researcher Mark McCrindle.Credit: Domino Postiglione

In September, Queensland outshone every other state and territory with the biggest boost in the number of people in work, while recording the second-worst unemployment rate in Australia.

“It used to be the Baby Boomers, it was a story of retirement,” Mr McCrindle said.

“But that’s not what this is, it’s remarkable.

“It’s the Millennial migration, it’s the younger generations moving into an area and the benefits of the diversity of generations heading into an area is that it creates broader demand for schooling, education at university and tertiary, there’s a stimulus to the labour market as people work.”

Mr McCrindle said Brisbane was emerging as a global city, following the announcement it would be the main host city of the 2032 Olympic Games.

Problems of housing affordability, congestion and infrastructure bottlenecks in Sydney and Melbourne amplified the shift.

“In fact, they’re more a liability than an asset because not only have we not been going there [to CBDs], they’ve been ghost towns, and it’s where all the high-rise living was, shared common places, public transport and all things people didn’t want to do [during COVID-19],” he said.

Julia Matthews, who moved with her family from Sydney’s south-western suburb of Camden to Redlands in Brisbane’s east, said affordability, lifestyle and work-life balance were the major incentives.

Julia Matthews and her family moved from Sydney to Brisbane at the end of 2020, buying their Redlands home unseen before the market surged. 

Wanting a sea change or tree change, the family considered the NSW Central Coast or southern coast, but was put off by housing prices and a lack of access to services such as medical facilities and universities.

“Mortgage stress is a massive issue in south-western Sydney,” Ms Matthews said.

“Families recognise that they’re up to their necks in mortgage repayments.

“I feel like life has just come down a few knots, rather than living fast-paced all the time in Sydney running around.

“I think it used to just be your retirees that would come up, move north, but now you’re getting lots of young families that just want a good start for their kids and don’t have that mortgage stress that they would in Sydney.”

Former Adelaide man Marc Mastrodomenico moved to Brisbane in January 2021 for work.Credit: Christian Hartung Photography

Marc Mastrodomenico, who moved from Adelaide to Brisbane in January, said he did not regret making the jump.

After searching for jobs in Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast, the 25-year-old said Queensland was more appealing because of the lifestyle, weather and culture.

“I was working from home for three months, and then I lost my job for another three months, so I began actively applying for jobs in September last year,” he said.

“Like most people in Adelaide, you think you’ll move to Melbourne, but the motorsport industry is very much on the Gold Coast.

“There were opportunities to stay in South Australia, but Queensland was more appealing because of the lifestyle, weather and culture and I got offered a job with a motorsport team on the Gold Coast.”