The happiest place in Australia is in Victoria

The residents of this part of Victoria are not surprised their patch of paradise has been found to have the best overall quality of life in the nation. DOES YOUR AREA MAKE THE LIST?

Brendan “Barnsey” Barnes is a little reluctant to extol the virtues of his patch of paradise in Panton Hill, Nillumbik.

“We don’t want everyone finding out about it and rocking up here and spoiling the peace and quiet,” the 44 year-old jokes from his stool in the front bar of the classic, country Panton Hill pub.

He’s enjoying a mid-arvo, midweek beer with his friend and local tradie Craig Cotton; watching his mate work his way through a parma the size of a dinner plate.

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Plumber Craig Cotton and Brendan 'Barnsey' Barnes enjoy a beer at the Panton Hill pub. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Two year old Hazel Everett enjoys a swing in Eltham Park with mum Alex Everett. Picture: Tim Carrafa

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Craig, a 46 year-old father of three, says the old-fashioned, wood-panelled pub – dotted with open fireplaces and with chooks out the back – is his second home.

Neither they, or 22 year-old barmaid Zoe Jones, are surprised by news the Shire of Nillumbik has been recently found to offer the best quality of life in the country.

“It’s a great place,” says Barnsey of Panton Hill, the sleepy little town he calls home.

Pretty much smack-bang in the middle of the 435 square kilometre Nillumbik municipality, “it’s like a country town but still close enough to Melbourne”, he says.

The sentiment was the same across the shire, as News Corp hit the pubs, parks, playgrounds, stores, streets and cafes of leafy Nillumbik.

At the funky “cafe, bar, eatery” Platform 3095 in Eltham, waitresses Laura Green, 25, and Rachel Miller, 27, are serving a group of local school mums, who come in regularly for coffee and a bite to eat, toddlers in tow.

Nillumbik Shire resident Kristen Underwood (left) with baby Aleksandr 9 months has coffee regularly with her friend Lucy Settle and son Hamish. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Lollipop lady Lesley Bell has been making the roads safer for kids to cross in Nillumbik for 30 years. Picture: Tim Carrafa

All say if there’s a nicer place to work or raise a family somewhere in the world, they don’t know where it is because, as far as they’re concerned, Eltham ticks every box.

It’s got fresh air, green spaces, playgrounds, walking tracks and so many trees it feels like you’re living in the Australian bush, but you’re within easy commuting distance of the CBD.

Nillumbik Shire is the sort of place you move to and stay, says lollipop lady of more than 30 years and grandma of five, Lesley Bell.

At 69 years young, she’s walked generations of Eltham school kids across the road and they’ve rarely been anything but well-mannered and respectful.

At the Kangaroo Ground general store, manager Carlos Soufya, 22, serves up petrol and pies and a whole lot more.

Kangaroo Ground general store worker Olivia DiPaulo with manager Carlos Soufya. They say the locals are always friendly. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Danielle Steinmann, four, and brother Liam Steinmann, two, enjoy the good life in Nillumbik, with their Maya the cavoodle. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Day-trippers come in on occasion, but mostly it’s locals and they’re always friendly.

The old store, which proudly displays a sign saying it was “established in 1891”, is on the fringes of some of the prettiest landscapes in Victoria. Gently undulating and (at this time of year) verdantly green paddocks, give way to gumtrees and bush.

From Kangaroo Ground to St Andrews there are produce stands at property gates and signs warning of wildlife crossing.

When you catch the train from Flinders Street home to Hurstbridge – to the end of the line, at the end of a day in Melbourne – you feel your worries ebb away with the passing stations, locals says.

The train trip may only take an hour, but Hurstbridge is a world away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

From Greensborough to Strathewen, the “green wedge shire” of Nillumbik lives up to its name, says Mayor Karen Egan.

“It just doesn’t get much better.”

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Lifetime friends who lunch Julie Martin and Glenyce Dean. Picture: Tim Carrafa

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TOP 10 VIC LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS WITH THE HIGHEST OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE

1. Nillumbik

2. Boroondara

3. Surf Coast

4. Bayside

5. Stonnington

6. Queenscliffe

7. Glen Eira

8. Knox

9. Manningham

10. Macedon Ranges

TOP 10 MOST LOVED-UP VIC LGAs

(Highest percentage of adults living with a partner)

1. Golden Plains

2. Surf Coast

3. Macedon Ranges

4. Moyne

5. Indigo

6. Towong

7. Nillumbik

8. Queenscliffe

9. West Wimmera

10. Murrindindi

TOP 10 KINDEST VIC LGAs

(LGAs with the best volunteering rates)

1. West Wimmera

2. Buloke

3. Yarriambiack

4. Queenscliffe

5. Hindmarsh

6. Towong

7. Southern Grampians

8. Horsham

9. Moyne

10. Loddon

TOP 10 ‘SMARTEST’ VIC LGAs

(LGAs with the highest rates of educational achievement/retention)

1. Surf Coast

2. Nillumbik

3. Queenscliffe

4. Bayside

5. Boroondara

6. Glen Eira

7. Stonnington

8. Banyule

9. Macedon Ranges

10. Manningham

MOST UNAFFORDABLE HOUSING

(Cost of housing weighed against income, size of housing and housing stress)

1. Melbourne City

2. Greater Dandenong

3. Monash

4. Darebin

5. Whitehorse

6. Moreland

7. Maribyrnong

8. Brimbank

9. Whittlesea

10. Hume