Better Brisbane Index 2020-21

The Better Brisbane Index measures residents’ perceptions of the quality of life in Brisbane, both now and in the future.

The specific objective of the study is to:

• understand how Brisbane residents currently feel about the quality of life in Brisbane
• understand how they think the quality of life may change in future
• benchmark community sentiment and concerns against other capital cities in Australia.

Study highlights

• 93% of Brisbane residents reported a positive quality-of-life rating
• 91% of Brisbane residents would recommend Brisbane as a great place to live
• 82% of Brisbane residents would rather live in Brisbane than any other Australian city

Better Brisbane Index results

The study included 2473 online interviews with the target population including:

• a representative sample of Brisbane residents aged 18 years and over; and
• a representative sample of residents of interstate capital cities - Sydney, Melbourne and Perth - and surrounding Queensland local government areas, outer South East Queensland and neighbouring South East Queensland.

Quality of life

Brisbane residents are more satisfied with the quality of life in their city than residents in Sydney, Melbourne and other south east Queensland regions. This year, quality of life ratings improved substantially in Perth and Sydney, with Perth now on par with Brisbane.

Civic pride

Civic pride amongst Brisbane residents remains very strong and is higher than in Sydney, Melbourne and neighbouring SEQ. Preference to live in Brisbane rather than any other city in Australia has increased this year to 82%.  Advocacy for living in Brisbane is also at very high levels with nine in 10 likely to recommend the city as a great place to live.  Compared to last year, residents in locations that faired relatively well during the covid-19 pandemic (Brisbane, Perth, SEQ) are more likely to want to live in their city than anywhere else. Whereas residents in Melbourne, which experienced higher levels of transmission and lockdown restrictions, are substantially less positive about living in their city and are the least likely to recommend their city as a great place to live.

Brisbane now and in the future

This year, residents are more positive about how the city has changed, with seven in 10 saying it’s a better place to live and work than it was five years ago. Optimism about Brisbane’s future has grown, with fewer residents concerned about how the city will change.

Future outlook on quality of life

While last year residents were polarised as to whether the quality of life in Brisbane will be better or worse in 10 to 20 years time, this year, the outlook is a lot more positive. Half think it will get better and less than a third think it will get worse. This is a substantial improvement on the previous year.