Exploring the Living in Melbourne 2024 report

In July, following a huge amount of press interest, Committee for Melbourne and Ipsos, unpacked the Living in Melbourne 2024 report at an event hosted by Bastion Reputation.

The report, which surveyed Melburnians on their quality of life in the city, is an important piece of work to help us understand how people are feeling about Melbourne’s performance and where the city is headed.

In their introductions to the report, Clare Gleghorn, Managing Director at Bastion Reputation, and Mark Melvin, CEO, Committee for Melbourne, emphasised that Melbourne has incredible attributes and offerings like sports, arts & culture and green open spaces – that’s why they love living in Melbourne and identifying as a Melburnian. The report however, is a crucial project for understanding whether all Melburnians are equally sharing in those offerings, especially as we head towards a population of 9 million by mid-century.

Leanne Edwards, Director, Policy & Advocacy, Committee for Melbourne, and Daniel Pole, Head of Ipsos Public Affairs, Ipsos, unpacked the major themes in the report. 81% of Melburnians are happy with their quality of life in our city. However, the city is fast growing by footprint and this suburban sprawl is resulting in pressure points across the metropolis. Some key issues identified by Melburnians include:

• Melbourne is a car centric city, with over 90% of households having access to a car and 72% using cars to travel from work or study (compared to train (36%), trams (28%) and buses (16%)).
• 77% of people faced a barrier when it came to accessing public transport – including overcrowding, expense and the transport not going where it is needed.
• 64% of Melburnians regard public transport as important to them when choosing where to live, and there is a lot of support for government investment in projects like Melbourne Airport Rail and bus reform.
• Affordable housing is an area of underperformance identified in the report – with around a quarter of people would move away from where they currently live if they could afford to.
• Increasing density in inner-city Melbourne is more supportable if there are liveability benefits delivered as a result – like affordable housing, more access to green spaces and better access to public transport.

Scott Thompson, Chief Strategy Officer, Bastion Reputation joined Leanne Edwards and Daniel Pole for a thought-provoking panel discussion moderated by Janine Shearer, Director, Engagement & Events, Committee for Melbourne. What is clear from the discussion is that we need a clear plan for growth, that all Melburnians can get behind. This includes the need to change our car culture by getting more people on public transport like buses and supporting more density done well – as well as a communications plan to explain the benefits of reform.

Thank you to Bastion Reputation for hosting us for a fantastic discussion and Ipsos for being a great partner on the report!

View the Living in Melbourne 2024 report