Home to some of Australia’s most spectacular coastline, as well as forests, plains and ancient rock formation, the communities of the Great South Coast offer a fantastic rural and regional lifestyle.

The region’s economy, traditionally focused on manufacturing, fishing and agriculture has these days been augmented by a growing diversity of opportunity for relocators, including tourism, retail, education, health care and professional services. Renewable energy is also on the radar as a provider of future career options.

The Victorian Government is ensuring Great South Coast communities continue to be great places to live work and invest, by delivering a range of improvements to public transport, country roads, tourism infrastructure and health facilities, and through initiatives such as Free TAFE for priority courses.

The Victorian Budget 2022/23 provides $5.7 billion for regional initiatives, taking the Government’s total investment in regional Victoria to more than $36 billion since 2015.

Locals living in the Great South Coast will also benefit from improvements to the South West TAFE library and learning hub in Warrnambool, and upgrades at Baimbridge College in Hamilton, Terang College and Mortlake P-12 College and the Glenormiston agricultural training centre.

There’s also investment to develop the Budj Bim Master Plan, supporting sustainable tourism growth at this World Heritage site and funding to establish a new statutory authority to manage and protect the Great Ocean Road.

Learn more about why the shires, towns and cities in the Great South Coast are great places to live, work and invest below.