Best and worst suburbs for retirees revealed

9 hours ago 3

If you’re setting up for retirement in 2025, or looking to help a family member downsize, these are the suburbs to avoid.

An analysis of data from Microburbs and the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted by SpaceTalk has taken into account suburbs where seniors face the highest risk due to inadequate access to healthcare.

SpaceTalk have calculated the percentage of each suburb’s population that is aged 65 or over and the number of healthcare facilities within 5km to determine the “senior risk score”.

SpaceTalk chief executive officer and managing director Simon Crowther said access to healthcare is going to become one of the most important factors for about one-third of home purchasers each year.

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“People choose suburbs for various reasons, whether to be close to their children’s schools, close to their work, or close to the beach. That’s going to change as more and more Australians get older,” he said.

“Seniors are high users of health services, accounting for 41 per cent of hospitalisation and making up most of the country’s ‘heavy users’ of healthcare … someone who visits their GP more than 20 times a year,” Mr Crowther added.

TOP 20 WORST SUBURBS FOR SENIORS
State Suburb % Population Over 65
1 Western Australia Augusta 44.3%
2 New South Wales Tuross Head 44.2%
3 South Australia Port Broughton 43.2%
4 South Australia Ardrossan 43.1%
5 New South Wales Bingara 42.0%
6 New South Wales Tocumwal 41.2%
7 Tasmania Shearwater 40.6%
8 New South Wales Bundanoon (NSW) 40.1%
9 Queensland Maleny 39.2%
10 Queensland Crows Nest (Qld) 38.5%
11 South Australia Kingston Se 38.1%
12 New South Wales Barraba 37.9%
13 Victoria Casterton 37.8%
14 Victoria Metung 37.6%
15 Queensland Toogoolawah 37.4%
16 Victoria Cohuna 37.3%
17 South Australia Tumby Bay 37.1%
18 New South Wales Narooma 37.1%
19 Western Australia York 37.0%
20 New South Wales Barham 36.9%

Source: SpaceTalk analysis of Microburbs and ABS Data

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NSW’s has one third of suburb’s with the lowest risk scores.


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More than 2.5 million over-65s own their home, a number that is rapidly growing, while Baby Boomer’s could account for 250,000 property transactions in the next two years.

The worst spot for seniors to live according to the SpaceTalk analysis was Augusta in WA, followed by the NSW South Coast suburb Tuross Head and South Australia’s Port Broughton, where more than 43 per cent of residents were seniors.

“All fifty of the suburbs where seniors are most at risk have a total absence of healthcare within 5km and senior populations that make up more than one-third of the total local population,” Mr Crowther said.

NSW had nearly one-third of the nation’s 50 suburbs with the highest ‘senior risk scores’ and two thirds of those with the lowest risk scores.

TOP 20 BEST SUBURBS
1 State Suburb % Population Over 65
2 New South Wales Zetland 3.6%
3 New South Wales Chippendale 3.5%
4 New South Wales Haymarket 3.7%
5 New South Wales Darlington (Sydney – NSW) 5.6%
6 New South Wales Alexandria 6.3%
7 New South Wales Erskineville 5.6%
8 New South Wales Ultimo 6.3%
9 New South Wales Camperdown (NSW) 6.8%
10 New South Wales Sydney 6.2%
11 Queensland Bowen Hills 3.8%
12 Victoria West Melbourne 4.4%
13 New South Wales Forest Lodge 8.0%
14 New South Wales Sydney Olympic Park 3.3%
15 New South Wales Potts Point 9.3%
16 New South Wales Newtown (NSW) 8.3%
17 Western Australia Northbridge (WA) 3.8%
18 New South Wales Waterloo (NSW) 10.5%
19 New South Wales Beaconsfield (NSW) 5.8%
20 New South Wales Surry Hills 10.6%
21 Queensland Fortitude Valley 4.7%

Source: SpaceTalk analysis of Microburbs and ABS Data

Victoria had 26 per cent of the suburbs with the worst risk scores and 12 per cent of the best.

The best suburbs for seniors included Zetland, Chippendale and Haymarket, all in inner-Sydney. Each had just over 3 per cent of their residents over 65 years old, according to SpaceTalk.

This was followed by Bowen Hills in Brisbane and West Melbourne in Victoria.

“The data reveals that 438 Australian suburbs have not a single healthcare facility nearby. As Australians get older, they increasingly look to move to locations that provide them with the services they will need in the next stage of their lives.”

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