Victoria

Sydney’s depth, Melbourne’s prices, and everything a weekend away

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

Start reading See the chapters

15 chapters Updated August 2026 Free

Welcome

The discount.

Victoria packs the second-biggest city, the second-deepest job market and the best regional-rail network in Australia into its smallest mainland state. Melbourne is laneways, trams, galleries and the country’s definitive coffee — a world city that costs meaningfully less to live in than Sydney.

The public system is organised as independent health services — metropolitan clusters in Melbourne with tertiary depth to match Sydney’s, and substantial regional services in Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and beyond. Registration is national; hiring is service by service, and the regional cities sit on commuter rail, which changes what "regional" means.

The costs are the weather — grey winters and four-seasons days — and a housing market that is only cheap by comparison with Sydney. This guide prices both plainly, and gives Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo the attention the arithmetic says they deserve.

Welcome to the garden state.

Warm regards — the Ethicare team

Victorian terrace houses with iron lacework on a leafy Melbourne street — Melbourne · the terraces and the trams

Victoria, in short

The five-second version

~7M

People in the state

150+

Public hospital campuses

~90 min

Ballarat or Bendigo by rail

250 km

Of tram track in Melbourne

Where

The south-east corner — Melbourne on the bay, surf coast south-west, goldfields and high country behind

Climate

Four seasons in a day: dry-heat summers, grey winters — and real snowfields in the Alps

The system

Independent health services; Melbourne tertiary depth with strong regional anchors on commuter rail

Getting home

Melbourne is the second gateway — direct to Asia and the Gulf, one stop from most of the world

Contents

What’s inside

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

Part one · Deciding

01 Welcome to VictoriaThe garden state in nine numbers — and six things you only learn once you’re here Read now → 02 Why VictoriaThe arithmetic, a typical week, and where else we might point you Read now → 03 The state at a glanceBay, surf coast, goldfields and high country — and what four-seasons days mean Read now →

Part two · The state

04 Healthcare in VictoriaHow the health services are organised, the regional multiplier, and what to ask at interview Read now → 05 Where clinicians liveNorthside or southside, the bay, the west and the regional cities — fourteen places compared Read now → 06 Getting aroundTrams over the top, trains underneath, and the V/Line lines that change the maths Read now →

Part three · Money & home

07 Cost of livingThe real discount on Sydney — and where the regional cities halve the housing line 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, coffee & the everydayCoffee as civic religion, the food suburbs, and the footy-season week Read now → 11 Coast, country & high countryThe Great Ocean Road, two wine regions, spa country and real ski fields 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

Yachts on Corio Bay with Geelong beyond, in evening light — Geelong — the second city, an hour down the bay

Sophie’s insight

Victoria is my quiet recommendation for people who want Sydney’s career without Sydney’s mortgage. And Ballarat is the sentence I say most often: a major hospital, a beautiful Victorian-era city, a house you can buy, and a train to Melbourne when you miss it.

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 Plan your move Read the other state guides