Victoria’s healthiest suburbs and regions revealed

These are the healthiest suburbs in Victoria that are beating cancer and heart disease. Use our searchable tool to see the suburbs that make the top 10.

Wyndham and Melbourne city are among the top 10 healthiest regions in Australia and the youth of their population is the secret.

Wyndham is the seventh healthiest place in the country and Melbourne city the 10th healthiest region, an analysis of the latest census data shows.

Seventy per cent of people living in these regions claim to have none of the 10 major health conditions crippling Australians, including cancer and heart disease, lung disease and mental health problems.

The census data from 2021 found Wyndham, which includes Tarneit, Hoppers Crossing, Laverton North, Point Cook and Werribee, has one of the state’s youngest populations — just one in five people are aged over 50.

It also has a strong multicultural heritage, with two thirds of people recording that both their parents were born overseas.

One in six people are of Indian ancestry and 6.3 per cent of Chinese ancestry.

Melbourne city’s population includes many university students, with eight in ten of its residents aged under 50.

Personal trainer Katie is keeping active even while pregnant. Picture: Rebecca Michael

This is likely to be the reason many people have not developed chronic health conditions.

The region that includes North Melbourne, Kensington, Carlton, Flemington, Docklands and Southbank also has a strong multicultural base, with only 38 per cent listing their birthplace as Australia.

The unhealthiest region in the state is Maryborough Pyrenees. It ranks among the top 10 in the nation for high rates of lung disease, heart disease, stroke, mental health and arthritis.

The Mornington Peninsula has the highest rates of cancer in the state, Gippsland East has the highest rate of heart disease,

The Campaspe region, taking in Euchuca and Shepparton, has the highest rate of kidney disease.

Ballarat has the highest rate of asthma.

Manningham West has the highest rate of dementia.

The region of Brunswick-Coburg has the highest rate of mental illness in the state.

Nationally, Queensland’s Bribie Island and Beachmere are the sickest regions in Australia and home to the highest proportion of people suffering from the top 10 health conditions, the census data shows.

Maryborough Pyrenees is Victoria’s sickest region. Picture: istock

The Great Lakes region of NSW, which takes in Forster, Tuncurry and Bulahdelah, is the second unhealthiest place in the country.

It has high rates of heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease, stroke, cancer, arthritis and ranks number one for dementia.

In Victoria, the Maryborough Pyrenees region ranks in equal third place with high rates of stroke, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, arthritis and mental health.

In Tasmania, the South East Coast region has the second highest rates of cancer and arthritis in the country and Brighton has high rates of asthma and mental health problems.

In the Northern Territory, people with no fixed address have the nation’s highest rate of kidney disease.

It is the first time the national Census has collected information on diagnosed long-term health conditions.

Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Professor Stephen Robson said it was vital it was used to plan health service delivery.

While most major hospitals and health services are concentrated in the centre of our big cities, the census showed people with the most chronic health conditions live in rural and regional areas, he said.

Professor Stephen Robson president of the Australian Medical Association.

Professor Robson said health policy makers had to figure out “how can we make it an attractive thing to move out of the lower north shore of Sydney and move into a place where you can have an enormous impact on a community living and working?”

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Dr David Gruen said the proportion of those with a long-term health condition increased with age and women were more likely to report a long-term health condition than men.

Asthma was the most commonly reported health condition for 0–14 year olds, with more boys (7.4 per cent) reporting asthma compared to girls (5.3 per cent).

More than half of Australians with Greek (56.1 per cent) and Italian (53.7 per cent) heritage reported one or more long-term health conditions.

The 2021 census also found:

• More than 8 million people had a long-term health condition.

• 4,791,516 people had one of the selected top 10 long-term health conditions.

• 1,490,344 people had two of the selected long-term health conditions.

• 772,142 people had three or more of the selected long-term health conditions.

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VICTORIA’S HEALTHIEST REGIONS

• Wyndham 69.7 per cent

• Melbourne City 69.4 per cent

• Casey – South 67.6 per cent

• Monash 66. per cent

• Tullamarine – Broadmeadows 66.2 per cent

• Manningham – West 65.9 per cent

• Dandenong 65.8 per cent

• Boroondara 65.5 per cent

• Glen Eira 65.5 per cent

• Whitehorse – West 65.3 per cent