VICTORIA

Introduction
Overview
People who changed their usual residence in the last three years
Movers from interstate/overseas
18-24 year old movers in full-time education
People who changed their current suburb of employment in the last three years
People who did not change their usual residence in the last three years


INTRODUCTION

This publication summarises results from the 2008 State Supplementary Survey - Residential and Workplace Mobility, and Implications for Travel. The survey was conducted during October 2008 throughout Victoria. The survey measured the demographic characteristics of movers and non-movers; the reasons why people changed their place of residence and/or workplace; and the modes of transport typically used to travel to the current suburb of employment.

The reference period mentioned throughout this commentary is the three years prior to October 2008 and scope of the survey only includes people aged 18 years and over.

The geographic area of 'suburb' mentioned throughout this article refers to both a suburb in urban areas and a locality in rural areas.

OVERVIEW

Of the 3.9 million people aged 18 years and over living in Victoria, 1.1 million people had changed their usual residence. In comparison, 2.8 million people did not move their usual residence during the reference period.

The graph below shows that the proportion of movers in Victoria decreased with age. The 18 to 34 years age group was the most mobile and accounted for 55% of all people who changed usual residence. In comparison, 13% of all people who moved were aged 55 years and over.



In Victoria, fifty-two percent (52%) of people who moved belonged to a household that rented the dwelling whereas 48% belonged to a household where one of the usual residents was an owner (with or without a mortgage).

In Victoria, two in three people (67%) moved to a separate house and nearly a quarter (23%) moved to a flat/unit/apartment.

In Victoria, 2.6 million were employed, 99,000 were unemployed and 1.3 million were not in the labour force.

Of the 2.6 million employed residents in Victoria in October 2008, a small proportion worked from home (8.2%)^(a) or worked without a fixed location (5.8%)^(a).

In Victoria 626,700 employed people who travelled to a fixed location of work, changed their current suburb of employment during the reference period. The most common reasons given for the move were job related, which were reported by 85% of these people. Job related reasons included the choice being based on the job only, being transferred by the employer, and both the type of work available and/or the availability of jobs in that suburb. In comparison, 17% of people changed their suburb of employment for transport related reasons. Transport related reasons include being close to home or close to public transport.

Of the 530,500 employed movers in Melbourne Major Statistical Region ('Melbourne'), 68% drove a motor vehicle, and 17% took the train for at least part of their typical journey to their current suburb of employment.


PEOPLE WHO CHANGED THEIR USUAL RESIDENCE IN THE LAST THREE YEARS

In October 2008, 1.1 million people in Victoria aged 18 years and over had changed their usual residence in the previous three years. Of these people, 62%^(b) moved to a different suburb, 25%^(b) relocated within the same suburb and 13%^(b) moved from interstate or overseas.

Household type

People currently living as part of a couple with children household accounted for nearly a third of total movers in Victoria (30%). This type of mover most commonly moved their usual residence because of an attractive neighbourhood (22%). Over a quarter of people who had moved were currently living as part of a couple only household (27%). These movers were also more likely to have moved for an attractive neighbourhood (26%). In contrast, only 8% of movers were living in lone parent households.

Tenure type

The majority of movers lived in a dwelling that was being rented by the usual residents (52%). Their most common reason for choosing to move to their usual residence was better access to or prospect of work (22%). People who currently belonged to a household where one of the usual residents owned or was paying off their home (48%) reported living near family and/or friends as their most common reason for moving to their usual residence (27%).

Reasons for moving

The most common reasons given by all movers in Victoria for choosing to move to their usual residence were living near family and/or friends (23%), better access to or prospect of work (20%), and an attractive neighbourhood (19%).

Within Melbourne, accessibility, including living near family/friends (20%), other services/ central location (18%) and better access to or prospect of work (16%) were the most commonly reported reasons by movers.

Proximity to work

Of those movers in Victoria who were employed, accessibility reasons were the most commonly reported reasons for moving, regardless of their proximity to their current suburb of employment. In Victoria, 43% of employed movers who worked within 5 kilometres (km) of their usual residence expressed better access to or prospect of work among reasons for moving to their usual residence.

In Victoria, housing costs became a more prominent reason for moving as distance between work and home increased. Of those who lived within a 5 km radius of their current suburb of employment, 6.7% reported housing costs as a reason for moving to the usual residence. This compared to about one in five (21%) employed movers who lived within a 10 to 20 km radius from their current suburb of employment.

In Melbourne, for employed movers who usually travel to one specific suburb for work, 150,200 people lived within a 5 km radius from their current suburb of employment. For 34% of these people, better access to or prospect of work was given as a reason for moving usual residence. For people who lived within a 20 to less than 50 km radius from their current suburb of employment (74,900 people), the more common reasons reported for moving were housing costs (37%) and an attractive neighbourhood (35%).

Mode of transport typically used

The majority of movers in Melbourne who travelled to work at a fixed location typically drove a motor vehicle at least part of the way to work (68%), while 17% of movers typically used a train for at least part of the journey to their suburb of employment.

Of the movers living in Melbourne who typically drove a motor vehicle for at least part of the journey to their current suburb of employment, the most common reasons given for moving to their usual residence were an attractive neighbourhood (23%) and living close to family and/or friends (19%). This compares to movers who typically used a train, who cited housing costs (22%) and other services or a central location (20%) as a motivation for the move. Public transport was reported as a reason for moving by 10% of movers who typically caught a train to their suburb of employment.

Proximity and mode

Regardless of the distance to their current suburb of employment, a majority of employed movers in Melbourne typically drove a motor vehicle at least part of their journey to work, including 53% living less than 5 km and 87% living within a 20 to 50 km radius. The next most typical modes of transport used by movers in Melbourne were train (17%) and tram (11%).

Reasons given by employed movers for choosing to move to their usual residence differed with the modes of transport typically used to travel to their current suburb of employment. In Melbourne, of those employed movers who rode a bicycle or walked the entire journey to their current suburb of employment, nearly half (48%) cited better access to or prospect of work as a reason for moving to their usual residence. However, for employed movers who drove a motor vehicle at least part of their journey to work, 18% chose better access to or prospect of work as a reason for moving.

Closeness to public transport (16%) was amongst frequently reported reasons for moving by employed movers who typically caught a tram to work. Only 4.7% of employed movers who typically drove a motor vehicle to work cited closeness to public transport as a reason for moving in the last three years.


MOVERS FROM INTERSTATE/OVERSEAS

Of the 2.9 million people living in Melbourne 118,900 people had moved from interstate or overseas during the reference period. Of these people, 37%^(c) moved from interstate and 63%^(c) moved from overseas to Melbourne.

The majority of people who moved from interstate or overseas were currently living as part of a household that was renting (69%) and most lived in a separate house (57%) in Melbourne.

Almost two thirds (63%) of movers from interstate or overseas reported accessibility, including a desire to live near family and friends or accessibility to some sort of service, as their main reason for choosing to move to their current area in Melbourne. This compares to nearly a quarter (24%) who gave housing-related reasons as their main reason for choosing to move to their current area.


18-24 YEAR OLD MOVERS IN FULL-TIME EDUCATION

In Victoria, 74,300 18-24 year old people were attending full-time education and had moved to their usual residence during the reference period. Of these, 60% moved to their usual residence due to accessibility reasons and 27% moved for housing reasons. Housing reasons included cost or where the person moved in with or rented/purchased from family/friends.

Of the full-time students who moved in Melbourne, 31% reported moving to be close to school or university.


PEOPLE WHO CHANGED THEIR CURRENT SUBURB OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE LAST THREE YEARS

In Victoria 626,700 employed people who travelled to a fixed location of work, changed their current suburb of employment during the reference period. These employed people had either changed their current suburb of employment, or had previously worked from home or without a fixed location, during the reference period.

Household Type

Of those employed people who changed their current suburb of employment, 41%^(d) lived within couples with children households.

For all people in Victoria, regardless of household type, job related reasons (85%) were more frequently reported than transport related reasons (17%) for moving to their current suburb of employment.

Reasons for changing current suburb of employment

The number of employed people in Victoria who changed their current suburb of employment was greater in Melbourne (511,000) than in the Balance of Victoria (116,000). Job related reasons were more often reported as a factor in choosing their current suburb of employment in Melbourne and in the Balance of Victoria (both 85%). Job related reasons included the choice being based on job only, being transferred by the employer and both the type of work available and/or the availability of jobs in that suburb. In comparison, transport related reasons were less likely to be a motivation for people in choosing their current suburb of employment in Melbourne and in the Balance of Victoria (both 17%).

Proximity to work

Of the 510,500 people who lived in Melbourne and changed their current suburb of employment, the majority (83%)^(e) lived within less than a 20 km radius of their current suburb of employment and more than a quarter (27%)^(e) lived within a 5 km radius.

For the Balance of Victoria, 37%^(e) of people who had changed their current suburb of employment lived within a 5 km radius of that suburb. Over a quarter (28%) of these people reported a transport related reason as a motivation for choosing that suburb of employment.

In Victoria, 70% of those living within a 5 km radius, 87% of those living within a 5 to 10 km radius and 96% of those living within 20 to 50 km radius from their current suburb of employment provided job related reasons for changing their current suburb of employment. The proportion of those who chose transport reasons decreased as distance between their usual residence and current suburb of employment increased. Over a third (35%) of people living within a 5 km radius and 9% living within 10 to 20 km radius of their current suburb of employment gave transport related reasons for changing their current suburb of employment.

Mode of transport typically used

In Victoria, 78%^(e) of people who changed their current suburb of employment typically drove a motor vehicle for at least part of their journey to work. Similarly, a majority of people who changed their current suburb of employment in Melbourne and Balance of Victoria typically drove a motor vehicle to their current suburb of employment (75%^(e) and 89%^(e) respectively). The second most commonly used mode of transport, among those who had changed their current suburb of employment, was a train in both Melbourne (12%)^(e) and Victoria (11%)^(e).

Job related reasons were most common for changing current suburb of employment. This is despite differences in the mode of transport people typically used to travel to their current suburb of employment. In Victoria 96% of those who caught a train for at least part of the journey to work changed their current suburb of employment for job related reasons.

PEOPLE WHO DID NOT CHANGE THEIR USUAL RESIDENCE IN THE LAST THREE YEARS

In Victoria, 2.8 million people aged 18 years and over did not change their usual residence during the reference period.

In Melbourne, 24% of non-movers were aged 18-34 years, 39% were aged 35-54 years and 37% were aged 55 years and over. People aged 35-54 years were most likely to be non-movers across Victoria (40%), Melbourne (39%) and Balance of Victoria (43%) compared to other age groups.



Household type

The typical non-mover belonged to a couple with children household in Victoria (45%), Melbourne (47%) and Balance of Victoria (38%).

Tenure type

Throughout Victoria, the majority (87%) of people who did not move belonged to a household where one of the usual residents owned (with or without a mortgage) the dwelling, whereas 13% belonged to a household of usual residents who were renting.

Dwelling structure

The majority of non-movers across Victoria lived in a separate house (87%), whereas 8% lived in a flat/unit/apartment and 5% lived in semi-detached, row or terrace house, town house, etc.

Proximity and mode

Regardless of the proximity (straight line distance) to their current suburb of employment, the main mode of transport typically used by employed non-movers in Melbourne was driving a motor vehicle (83%). Train (11%) and riding a bicycle or walking entire trip (5%) were the next most used typical forms of transport for the journey to their current suburb of employment. Of non-movers living within a 5 km radius of their current suburb of employment in Melbourne, 15% rode a bicycle or walked the entire trip.

(a) See Table 1a and 4a. This proportion is calculated using the column totals.
(b) See Table 5a. This proportion is calculated using the row totals.
(c) See Table 11a. This proportion is calculated using the row totals.
(d) See Table 16a. This proportion is calculated using the row totals.
(e) See Table 15a. This proportion is calculated using the row totals.