Connection to Canberra

Identity and belonging

Connection to Canberra

Our sense of connection to our city plays an important role in establishing a sense of belonging. This indicator will measure whether Canberrans would recommend our city to others as a good place to live, as well as how proud we are to live in the ACT region.

Canberra is a good place to live

This measure shows whether Canberrans would recommend our city to others as a good place to live. Liveable cities are a key ingredient of our wellbeing.

In 2024, 89.1% of Canberrans said they would recommend our region to others as a good place to live, consistent with the result in 2023. This is higher than the Australian average of 77.0%.

The University of Canberra 2024 Living Well in the ACT Region survey notes slightly lower figures were reported by single parents (74%), those who are unemployed (81%), and those with a restrictive disability (85%), particularly if severe (82%).

Data for this indicator are sourced from the University of Canberra Living well in the ACT Region survey. Detailed survey data, survey user guide and published reports from the survey can be accessed at https://www.regionalwellbeing.org.au/living-well-in-the-act-region/.

Line graph of percentage of respondents who agreed, disagreed, or neither agreed nor disagreed that the Canberra region is a good place to live, between 2019 and 2024.

In 2024:

  • 89.1% of adult Canberrans agreed that the Canberra region is a good place to live, compared to 88.8% in 2023
  • 6.2% disagreed that the Canberra region is a good place to live, compared to 5.6% in 2023
  • 4.7% neither agreed nor disagreed that the Canberra region is a good place to live, compared to 5.6% in 2023.

The Living Well in the ACT Region survey, conducted by the University of Canberra, aims to measure, track and understand the wellbeing and resilience of adult residents living in the Australian Capital Territory region of Australia. It examines factors known to affect wellbeing and resilience at the individual, household, community and regional level.

When generating data for the ACT, statistical weighting is used to address differences between the sample of people who respond to the survey, and the characteristics of the ACT adult population.

Data are produced from this survey for different groups of people in the ACT. The ‘overall response’ category represents responses at the ACT population level. Where reliable estimates can be produced, data are also presented for Canberrans by: gender, age, cultural background, gender identity and sexuality, carer role and experience of disability. Not all differences over time or between groups are statistically significant: information on confidence intervals for the data presented here is available in data tables that can be accessed at https://www.regionalwellbeing.org.au/living-well-in-the-act-region/.

Care is needed when interpreting the differences in findings between groups as the descriptive statistics published here show where there are differences in wellbeing, but not what has caused those differences in wellbeing.

Further information about the survey can be found at Living Well in the ACT Region or by contacting regionalwellbeing@canberra.edu.au.