Community spirit lowest in Dubbo, survey of regional cities reveals

Only 68 percent of Dubbo locals who responded to Australian Community Media's 2022 Heartbeat of Australia Survey said they think their town is a "great place to live" - lower than any other town surveyed except for Bathurst, with 62 percent.

And, only 72 percent of locals would recommend Dubbo to others as a good place to live, the lowest of all fourteen centres surveyed.

Asked if they think their town "copes with challenges well", only 54 percent of Dubbo residents agreed, again scoring lowest of all surveyed towns.

Dubbo also bottomed out the pack in terms of the percentage of locals who thought their town had "good community spirit" - at just 56 percent compared to an average of 69 percent.

Most Dubbo residents are optimistic about the future of their town, with 64 percent saying their community "has a bright future". However, this level of optimism was lower than all other towns surveyed except for Burnie in Tasmania where only 62 percent are optimistic about the future.

Dubbo respondents also felt their community was less helpful to others in times of need than the other towns surveyed did. Only 64 percent of respondents agreed Dubbo locals "help each other when times are tough" - equally as low as Tamworth and Bathurst and lower than the average of 88 percent.

With Dubbo's population on a steady rise, more people are moving into the community but just 69 percent of Dubbo residents - tied for the bottom with Wagga Wagga and Burnie - said they feel welcome here.

When it comes to employment opportunities, just over a third of Dubbo respondents (38 percent) agreed with the sentiment that there were "not enough people to fill jobs" in the community and 51 percent agreed young adults were moving out of the area to access better opportunities.

These are just a few of the key sentiments of Dubbo residents revealed in the Heartbeat of Australia Survey, conducted by Australian Community Media (the publisher of this newspaper) earlier this year in partnership with the University of Canberra.

The other cities included in the study of over 6,300 people were Albury, Ballarat, Bathurst, Bendigo, Burnie, Canberra, Launceston, Newcastle, Tamworth, Wagga Wagga, Warrnambool and Wollongong.

As well as general sentiments about their community, the survey asked respondents about how they connect with their community, the quality and availability of services in their community and key issues impacting their community.

In coming weeks, the Daily Liberal will be publishing more articles breaking down and exploring the data around each of these issues.

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