Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n culture, a seachange (or sea change) is a form of

human migration Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location (geographic region). The movement often occurs over long distances and from one country to another (ex ...

where individuals abandon city living for a perceived easier life in rural coastal communities. The term was popularised by ABC TV series ''

SeaChange ''SeaChange'' is an Australian television program that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC and in 2019 on the Nine Network. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howard, ...

'', which prompted city-dwellers to escape to the coast as depicted by the series. The term originally comes from

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

'' The Tempest''. The result of this phenomenon was a rapid boom in

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

and

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

development in coastal areas, particularly in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. A similar term, treechange, describes the movement of urban people to the

countryside In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, ...

. The term "Tree Change" was first coined by ABC Ballarat radio mornings presenter Steve Martin on his radio talk back show after his five question morning challenge.

''SeaChange'' TV series

In television series ''SeaChange'', which originally ran 1998 to 2000, the main character Laura Gibson fulfils her escapist desire by leaving the city for a small seaside town after her career and family life in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

falls apart. The series was one of the most popular programmes in Australia. The primary filming location was

Barwon Heads Barwon Heads (previously known as Point Flinders) is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded to ...

on the

Bellarine Peninsula The Bellarine Peninsula (Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peni ...

Who is shifting

People shifting to the coast have been characterised as: *Free agent migrators **Include retirees **Majority are of working age, drawn to service the needs of retirees and tourists **Sub categories include pre-retirees, alternative lifestylers and internet business operators *Forced relocating migrants **Principally people reliant on income support including unemployed, single parents and the disabled.

Effect

The rate of growth in rural coastal areas in 2008 was 60% higher than the national average. Almost six million people already resided in coastal areas outside the mainland capitals in 2008. In addition to people seeking a better lifestyle, the seachange phenomenon is driven by retiring

baby boomer Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. T ...

s and people forced out of capital cities by high house prices.The Challenge of Seachange Growth
/ref> In response to the influx of tourists and new residents to their jurisdictions, coastal councils from around Australia formed the National Sea Change Taskforce in 2004 to seek ways to ensure sustainable development in their communities. As at 2008 there are 68 member councils from around Australia collectively representing more than four million residents.

References

External links

{{Wiktionary, seachange
National Sea Change Taskforce
21st century in Australia Demographics of Australia Real estate in Australia Television in Australia

''SeaChange'' TV series

Who is shifting

Effect

See also

References

Further reading

External links