Hobart

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

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

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15 chapters Updated August 2026 Free

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

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

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.

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