Moving to the Gold Coast, Australia

Surrounded by stunning beaches, lush rainforests and a relaxed lifestyle, it’s not hard to see why the Gold Coast is one of the fastest growing cities in Australia, or why people keep leaving their country to make a new home here.

The Gold Coast is home to just over half a million residents, making it the sixth largest city in Australia.

The Gold Coast stretches along 57 km of eastern Australia’s breathtakingly beautiful coastline and is best known for its perfect surf conditions, warm and sunny year-round climate and strong tourism trade. Situated just south of Queensland’s capital city, Brisbane, the Gold Coast attracts over 12 million visitors each year, including a mixture of Australians seeking some sunshine and visitors from abroad.

At the heart of the Gold Coast lies Surfers Paradise (or Surfers for short), which is a central tourism hub filled with high-rise apartments and hotels, a busy shopping district, many bars and clubs, and a wide surf beach.

Each year in November-December, the Gold Coast’s Surfers Paradise also plays host to Australia’s biggest ‘Schoolies Week’, which is a week-long student celebration of finishing exams and graduating from high school. Tens of thousands of school leavers come to the Gold Coast during this time to party and enjoy one of Australia’s nightlife capitals.

The Gold Coast is also home to Australia’s most famous theme parks including Dreamworld, Sea World, Warner Bros. Movie World and Wet’n’Wild. Also, Queensland’s capital city, Brisbane, is only 94 kilometres away and the popular Byron Bay is a quick one hour drive from the Gold Coast. Cars are the main mode of transport for those living in the region.

Job market

The Gold Coast has a thriving tourism and hospitality industry meaning that there are many hospitality jobs available in the area. Work in sales and retail are also popular options for those looking to work on the Gold Coast.

As with most cities in Australia, work in building and construction are also very viable options, especially with all the new estates popping up all over the region to cater for the population boom.

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Other opportunities for work on the Gold Coast includes industries such as farming and agriculture, business and accounting, and mining and mineral processing, though the latter is often based outside of the main areas of the Gold Coast.

Healthcare in Gold Coast

Before your big move to Gold Coast, it’s wise to think about medical cover for when you’re out there.

That’s why we’ve partnered with Cigna for private medical insurance in Gold Coast. With four levels of annual cover to choose from and extra modules for more flexibility, Cigna will sort you out with a plan that suits your needs.

Start building a customised plan with a free quote to protect your most important assets – you and your family.

Property Information

The cost of housing has been steadily increasing since the area took a big hit during the global financial crisis, with most suburbs now recording positive increases in their median house prices.

Main Beach is Queensland’s most expensive suburb for houses, where the median house value is now at 1,325,689 AUD. This comes as no surprise considering that Main Beach only has a mere 88 detached houses, which equates to just 5.9% of all properties.

Currumbin has been the best performer in terms of annual price growth, where the median house price has increased by 31.4% in the last year to 775,000 AUD.

The Gold Coast is also very popular with renters. The most expensive area for rentals is Clear Island Waters, with a median rental price of 678 AUD per week, whilst the cheapest median price is in Springbrook at 335 AUD per week.

Transferring money to the Gold Coast

If you’re thinking of moving to the Gold Coast, you’ll probably need to convert some of your British pounds into Australian dollars.

That’s why we’ve teamed up with Wise, an easy-to-use online international money transfer service which uses the real exchange rate, and charges low fees.

How much could you save? Well, its service can be up to 8x cheaper than high street banks.

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Neighbourhoods

There are over 50 suburbs on the Gold Coast and new ones are being created each year to house the fast-growing population of this popular region. The Gold Coast can be broken down into four main areas:

Family-Friendly

Ashmore – a popular and well established suburb, surrounded by elderly trees. Opportunely centered near the beach, shopping centres, CBD, retail precincts, the M1 motorway and rail links, some Ashmore homes can also enjoy views to the beach and the ocean. The neighborhood has access to numerous parks, gardens, schools and sporting facilities.

Hip & Trendy

Labrador – once a quiet holiday suburb – now it harbours the trendies of the Gold Coast and lovers of everything aquatic. Labrador is a long established suburb, as of such, there is no vacant land left. Many of the older three storey walk ups and holiday houses that run alongside the Broadwater are being torn down for redevelopment. New and luxurious buildings have risen in the recent years as well as a thriving cafe precinct. As one of the first suburbs of the Gold Coast to be developed (back in the 50s) Labrador still has an abundant supply of retro-style houses.

Up & Coming

Arundel & Parkwood – the suburb is a hub of activity, it provides access to the M1 Motorway and it is home to Griffith University which has recently gone through a major refurb and expansion period.

Students find Griffith University Gold Coast a particularly appealing campus not only for the great degree choices and sporting facilities but also for its proximity to the beach and Surfers Paradise.

Both neighbourhoods are very established and are well serviced by public transport, schools, shopping centres and have maintained strong and consistent growth over the last decade, which indicates steady development for the future.

Upmarket

Robina – a master planned residential community that has been growing at an exponential rate for the last two decades. There is everything one could ever need in Robina – good schools and the private Bond University, wonderful shopping, parks, bike and walk trails and lakes. It’s also a stone’s throw away from the popular Burleigh Beach. Popping up all over the place are high rise residential apartments, villas, townhouses and the odd stand alone house.

Schools and Education

There are two main types of schools for children in Australia, public/state and private schools. Public schools are free and open to everyone, whilst private schools charge annual fees and are more exclusive and often, more prestigious.

School is split up into two sections – primary school, which accommodates students from kindergarten to Year 7 (age 5 to 12) and high school, which accommodates students from Year 8 to Year 12 (ages 13 to 17).

The Gold Coast is also home to four universities – Bond University, Southern Cross University, Griffith University and Central Queensland University, as well as a number of Private Colleges, English Language Institutions and TAFE’s.

Cost of moving to the Gold Coast

Here is a table with a shipping cost estimate for moving to the Gold Coast, based on an average move for an average family. This does not include the cost of flights and visas/passports.