Where all the best jobs are in regional Queensland

Job hunters are being urged to consider employment opportunities in Queensland’s regional areas as a record number of vacancies are available.

Job hunters are being urged to consider employment opportunities in regional areas as a record number of vacancies are available.

Analysis by independent think tank, the Regional Australia Institute, showed based on the latest job vacancy data more than 50,000 jobs were advertised across the country’s regions in September.

This is a five per cent increase compared to September last year - and an 11 per cent increase on the previous month of August.

The Institute’s chief executive officer Liz Ritchie said it was a “very positive sign” for resilience in regional areas that had been hit hard during the pandemic.

Lara Strohfeldt, 32, her husband Matthew Rhodes, 32, and son William, 5, recently relocated from Brisbane to Kleinton, near Toowoomba, and can do their jobs from their new base.

“We’ve certainly seen across regions that they have the ability to step up and get on with the business of generating employment and think about recovery,” she said.

“We’ve known for some time there's consistently jobs available in the regions that are well-paid roles where city dwellers are not aware they are available.

“The opportunity to have a better lifestyle, a bigger home and a backyard to raise your family our family in is very appealing.”

The RAI on Wednesday will launch the Regional Activators Alliance (RAA) – a new body to help create its National Awareness Campaign aimed at driving population to the regions.

Latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows the nation’s unemployment rate in September was 6.9 per cent but this does not include those receiving JobKeeper payments.

There are 900,000 businesses and more than 3.5 million Australians receiving JobKeeper payments.

Ms Ritchie said among the industries where jobs are available includes in trades, automotive, engineering, construction and other professions including medicine, allied health, diagnostics, legal and administrative.

The couple say moving to regional Queensland has saved them money.

Lara Strohfeldt, and her husband Matthew Rhodes, both 32, relocated from Warner on Brisbane’s northside to Toowoomba last month taking their jobs with them.

Ms Strohfeldt works for a therapy business and Mr Rhodes works in aviation and when COVID-19 hit they realised they could both do roles from their new home base.

“The main reason we moved was being close to family and it’s good for our son to grow up around family,” she said.

“From a financial perspective it’s cheaper to live out here, we were able to sell our house in Brisbane for a good price and we were able to buy our house for much less.”

Minister Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business Senator Michaelia Cash said the boost to jobs in regions was due to the Federal Government’s economic recovery plan and gradual easing of restrictions across Australia.

“Since May 2020 job advertisements have increased by 77.9 per cent in regional areas, compared with a rise of 50.4 per cent in the capital cities,” she said.

“The number of Australians back into work has since increased by 446,500 over the last four months.”

Minister Cash said regional areas had been less impacted by COVID-19 than the metropolitan areas because “businesses do not rely on the critical mass of customers that were forced out of the cities to work from home”.

The latest job vacancy data showed 22 of the 32 regions were now showing vacancy levels higher than September 2019.

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Number of advertised job vacancies

Sept 2019 Sept 2020 % change

Regional Australia 48,316 50,776 5.1%

Regional NSW (excludes Sydney) 12,959 16,205 25%

Regional Vic (excludes Melbourne) 6347 5184 -18.3%

Regional Qld (excludes Brisbane) 14,270 14,900 4.4%

Regional SA (excludes Adelaide) 1058 1299 22.7%

Tasmania 1846 1794 -2.8%

Regional WA (excludes Perth 3860 4314 17.2%

NT 1778 1770 -0.5%

ACT 6378 5310 -16.7%

Mainland capitals 131,249 95,563 -27.2%

Number of advertised job vacancies

Aug 2020 % change Aug-Sept 2020

Regional Australia 45,601 11.3%

Regional NSW (excludes Sydney) 14,148 14.5%

Regional VIC (excludes Melbourne) 4936 5.0%

Regional QLD (excludes Brisbane) 13,412 11.1%

Regional SA (excludes Adelaide) 1155 12.4%

TAS 1593 12.6%

Regional WA (excludes Perth) 3926 9.9%

NT 1586 11.6%

ACT 4845 9.6%

Mainland capitals 86,771 10.1%

FIVE REGIONS WITH THE BIGGEST INCREASES OVER 12 MONTHS

 Dubbo & Western NSW with 73% more vacancies in September 2020 than September 2019

 South West WA with 45% more

 NSW Southern Highlands & Snowy with 44% more

 NSW Tamworth & North West with 35% more

 NSW Riverina & Murray with 31% more

Five regions with the biggest jumps from August 2020 to September 2020 were:

 Dubbo & Western NSW up 17%

 South West WA up by 16%

 NSW North Coast up by 16%

 SA Fleurieu Peninsula & Murray Mallee up by 16%

 Toowoomba & South West Qld up by 15%

Source: Compiled by the Regional Australia Institute based on data from the internet Vacancy Index from the Department of Education, Skills, Employment and Business.

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Originally published as Where all the best jobs are in regional Queensland