Hobart

Where the mountain, the harbour and the wilderness all sit minutes from the wards

15 chapters Updated August 2026 Free Save Hobart to My Move

Welcome

Australia’s most deliberate capital.

Hobart is the choice people make on purpose: a mountain that stands over the wards, a harbour that still works for a living, and a health system small enough to know your name. Founded in 1804, it is Australia’s second-oldest capital, and it still runs at that scale.

Tasmania runs a single statewide health service, and Hobart carries its depth — the principal referral hospital, the island’s widest range of specialist services, and the university medical school beside it. It is a system you can know personally within a year, which cuts both ways, and this guide says so.

The costs are a tight rental market, older housing that wasn’t always built for a cold winter, and a Bass Strait crossing between here and everywhere else. What you get back is proximity: the mountain, the wilderness and the coast are minutes from the wards, not hours.

Welcome to the mountain and the harbour.

Warm regards — the Ethicare team

Hobart, in short

The five-second version

~250,000

In Greater Hobart

15 min

Wards to the mountain road

1804

Founded — Australia’s 2nd-oldest capital

100%

Of Tasmania is regional for migration

Where

A harbour city folded around the Derwent estuary, with a mountain standing directly over it

Climate

Cool temperate — four real seasons, mild summers and cold winters with snow on the summit

The system

One statewide health service; Hobart carries the principal referral hospital and the deepest bench

Getting home

An airport 20 minutes from town — Melbourne 75 minutes away, most of the world one stop further

Contents

What’s inside

Visas, registration and money are covered once, in Moving to Australia.

Part one · Deciding

01 Welcome to HobartThe mountain and the harbour in nine numbers — and six things you only learn once you’re here Read now → 02 Why HobartThe case, a typical week, and when the mainland is the better call Read now → 03 Hobart at a glanceThe mountain, the two shores and four real seasons — plus how the city connects to the mainland Read now →

Part two · The city

04 Healthcare in HobartThe state’s principal referral hospital, a university medical school, and what to ask at interview Read now → 05 Where clinicians liveBattery Point, the eastern shore, the beach south and the Huon, compared Read now → 06 Getting aroundBuses, one bridge, one small ferry — and among the shortest commutes in the country Read now →

Part three · Money & home

07 Cost of livingGentler than the mainland capitals, audited against what it costs to live here 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 everydaySalamanca Market, the working waterfront, and the museum that changed how the city eats Read now → 11 The mountain, the coast & the seasonskunanyi, Bruny Island, Mount Field, and a winter the city celebrates 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

Sophie’s insight

What I love about Hobart is how deliberately people make time for life — a walk up kunanyi, a market on Saturday, a weekend in the wilderness. And in a smaller, close-knit system, you’re valued and looked after in a way the big cities can’t match.

My advice: choose the city on purpose. The clinicians who come for the life it offers — seasons included — are among the happiest placements I have anywhere.

Sophie Careem

Founder, Ethicare Resourcing

When you’re ready

Ready to explore opportunities?

Read the guide, save it to your pack, and plan the move at your own pace — even if that’s a year from now.

Explore current opportunities Ask Ethicare The wider Tasmania guide Other Australian guides