Like many young people growing up on the Fraser Coast, I couldn’t wait to leave after high school. University, opportunity, the big smoke. It all felt exciting and necessary. And it was. Experiencing a larger city broadened my perspective and built my confidence.
But something unexpected happened. The further I went, the more I realised how much we have here on the Fraser Coast and how good we have it.
Lifestyle. Community. Accessibility. Opportunity. A place where you can build a career and raise a family.
Recently, I’ve seen this same realisation play out again. Not just with locals returning home, but with families relocating from interstate. One particular business owner, after years of holidaying here, made the deliberate decision to move their young family to the Fraser Coast and re establish a business that had already proven successful elsewhere. The community rallied behind them immediately. The response was strong, the support was genuine.
That kind of confidence says something powerful about our region. From a
property and industry perspective, youth retention and attraction are not just social considerations, they are economic drivers. When young professionals choose to build businesses and careers here, they strengthen our economy.
If we want young professionals to return, affordability, housing diversity and vibrant precincts must remain part of the conversation.
If our emerging leaders leave and never return, our pipeline thins. But when they come home, they bring experience, networks and fresh ambition.
As an industry, our role is to help shape the kind of region people believe in enough to build their future here.
So the question is:
If we want our people to stay or come home, are we creating opportunities worth coming back for?
