Canberra

Where the public service pays well, the lake sits at the centre, and the paperwork still calls it regional

A guide to living, working and settling in Australia’s purpose-built capital — written for healthcare professionals, by the team who help them move.

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15 chapters Updated August 2026 Free

Welcome

The capital built on purpose.

Canberra is the city Australia built on purpose: a lake at its centre, forest and grassland reserves on every side, and a plan that still shows in how calmly it moves. It also has the country’s highest average income, some of the shortest commutes on the mainland, and — despite housing the federal parliament — a skilled migration classification that puts it alongside Perth, Adelaide and Hobart rather than Sydney or Melbourne.

For clinicians, healthcare here runs as a single territory system rather than several competing networks, anchored by two hospital campuses and a research precinct that shares a fence line with the university. It also carries a job most people don’t expect: Canberra is the specialist referral centre for a wide stretch of southern New South Wales, so the caseload reaches well past the territory’s own population of under half a million.

The costs are a public-service economy that can feel like a company town, a housing market that has caught up with the income, and a coastline that is a drive, not a tram ride. This guide prices all three plainly.

Welcome to the bush capital.

Warm regards — the Ethicare team

A lakeside path lined with autumn poplars on the Lake Burley Griffin foreshore — Lake Burley Griffin · the plan’s geometric heart

Canberra, in short

The five-second version

~470,000

Living in the ACT

46%

Of the territory is national park

Toll roads in the territory

2 hrs

Drive to snow — a capital first

Where

A planned city around an artificial lake, ringed by nature reserves, on the southern tablelands

Climate

Four true seasons — cold, often frosty winters and hot, dry summers, with the country’s most celebrated autumn colour

The system

One territory-run health service across two hospital campuses, doubling as the specialist referral centre for southern NSW

Getting home

An airport minutes from the city, direct to every mainland capital, with a small number of direct international links

Contents

What’s inside

Fifteen chapters in five parts. Nine are written for Canberra; the rest are national and live once in Moving to Australia, so you only read them once.

Part one · Deciding

01 Welcome to CanberraThe bush capital in nine numbers — and six things you only learn once you’re here Read now → 02 Why CanberraThe case, a typical week, and where else we might point you Read now → 03 Canberra at a glanceThe lake, the town centres and four real seasons — plus the diplomatic city hiding in plain sight Read now →

Part two · The city

04 Healthcare in CanberraOne territory system, a referral role across southern NSW, and what to ask at interview Read now → 05 Where clinicians liveInner north, inner south, the lake suburbs and the valleys, compared Read now → 06 Getting aroundLight rail, an extensive cycle network, and commutes that rival any capital in the country Read now →

Part three · Money & home

07 Cost of livingThe territory that pays the most in the country, audited against what it costs to live there Read now → 08 Living in AustraliaRenting, utilities, banking and the practical first months — the national playbook Shared · national 09 Pay & conditionsHow awards, allowances and salary packaging work — and what to verify before signing Shared · national

Part four · Everyday life

10 Food & the everydayMarkets, embassies and a food scene shaped by the public-service calendar Read now → 11 Snow, lake & wine countrySkiing by lunchtime, the coast by the afternoon, and Floriade in between Read now → 12 Schools & educationHow Australian schooling works — and the visa fee question every family must read Shared · national

Part five · Belonging

13 Finding your feet & your peopleCommunities, faith, sport and how friendship works here Shared · national 14 Eligibility & registrationAhpra, English evidence and assessment — the national process, once Shared · national 15 Visas & the moveWhich visa, in what order, and how the timeline runs Shared · national

Lake Burley Griffin and the Captain Cook Memorial fountain, with the Brindabella Ranges beyond — Lake Burley Griffin — the plan’s geometric heart

Sophie’s insight

What strikes me most about Canberra is how much it rewards people who value balance over noise. Having spent years in the NHS, I know how easily work swallows everything else — and here, the lake, the hills and even the snow in season are close enough to use, not just to look at.

My advice: come with likely expectations about the size of the professional community, and clear ones about the cost of housing — the income is high, but so is the price tag. Most people who move here find the trade worth it.

Sophie Careem

Founder, Ethicare Resourcing

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