Every year, someone publishes a list of the best places to retire in Australia. Most of them are based on vibes.
A journalist visits a charming coastal town on a Tuesday in October, the sun is out, the café makes a good flat white, and suddenly it is number three on a national list.
Meanwhile, the town’s one GP practice is closed to new patients, the nearest hospital with an emergency department is 90 minutes away, and the only bus service runs twice a week.
We wanted to do something different.
Over several weeks, the Starts at 60 team built a retirement liveability index – a framework that scores towns against the things that actually matter for the second half of life. Not just lifestyle. Not just the view from the café. The practical, sometimes unglamorous things that determine whether retirement in a particular place is genuinely sustainable, safe and satisfying over the long term.
We assessed towns and cities across Australia against seven dimensions, each weighted to reflect how much they matter to people aged 60 and over.
Healthcare access was weighted most heavily, at 25 per cent of the total score. We looked at GP availability, hospital infrastructure, specialist access, allied health coverage and aged care facilities. A beautiful town with poor healthcare is not a retirement destination – it is a risk.
Affordability came second at 20 per cent – not just house prices, but the full cost of living: council rates, groceries, utilities and rental costs for those who don’t own.
Community and social infrastructure came in at 15 per cent. Loneliness is one of the leading health risks for older Australians, and a town’s social fabric – its clubs, groups, volunteer networks and community organisations – is as important as its medical infrastructure for healthy ageing.
Climate was weighted at 15 per cent, with particular attention to extreme heat days, humidity, flood and bushfire risk, and the general liveability of the outdoor environment across all four seasons.
Transport and connectivity accounted for 10 per cent – can you still live there if you can no longer drive? Is the NBN reliable enough for telehealth? How far is the nearest major hospital if you need specialist care?
Lifestyle amenity – cafés, restaurants, nature access, cultural facilities, sporting infrastructure – accounted for 10 per cent.
Finally, aged care and future planning – the quality and availability of aged care facilities for when you need them further down the track – contributed 5 per cent.
We cross-referenced published data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Star Ratings, CoreLogic, the Bureau of Meteorology, Medicare provider location data, and multiple retirement industry reports including Citro’s 2025 Top 50 Retirement Locations guide and Deloitte’s retirement research. We also drew on the extensive accumulated knowledge of the Starts at 60 community – the hundreds of thousands of Australians over 60 who read this publication and whose real-world experience of retirement living informed our qualitative assessments.
No methodology is perfect. A retirement destination is deeply personal – your ideal town will not be someone else’s. But we believe this framework is the most comprehensive, honest and practical retirement town ranking published in Australia. And we are about to prove it.
Over the next four days, we will count down from 20 to 1. Today, we begin with places 20 to 16 – five towns that nearly didn’t make the cut, and that are better than you probably think.
At the western end of the Great Ocean Road, Warrnambool is one of those towns that retirement lists consistently overlook – partly because it is three hours from Melbourne, and partly because it lacks the coastal glamour of its neighbours along the Great Ocean Road.
What it has instead is substance. South West Healthcare is a genuinely strong regional hospital network, housing affordability is exceptional relative to its coastal peers, and the community is warm and established in a way that matters when you are new to a town and need to build a social network from scratch. The coastline is dramatic, the whale-watching season from June to September is world-class, and the food scene has improved remarkably in recent years.
The climate is cool and fresh – temperate without the inland cold of Ballarat or Bendigo – and the flat terrain of the town makes it accessible as mobility changes with age. It is a genuinely excellent retirement town that most Australians have never seriously considered, and that is largely its advantage.
Best for: Affordability, coastal lifestyle, community warmth, Victorian coastal climate. Consider: Three hours from Melbourne means major specialist access requires planning.
Hobart is unlike anything else on this list. It is a genuine capital city – with all the healthcare infrastructure, cultural richness and service depth that implies – at a fraction of the cost of its mainland equivalents. The Royal Hobart Hospital provides strong acute care, the food scene anchored by the famous and MONA’s restaurant is internationally recognised, and the natural surroundings – kunanyi/Mount Wellington looming over the city, the Huon Valley to the south, the Derwent River running through the heart of it — are extraordinary.
The honest caveat is the one that has always applied to Hobart: the winter. It is cold. It is grey. It is long. For Australians coming from Queensland or coastal NSW, the adjustment is real. But for those who grew up with four seasons and miss them, or who prioritise culture, extraordinary food, outstanding natural beauty and genuine capital-city healthcare infrastructure over sunshine, Hobart belongs considerably higher on this list than its position here suggests.
Best for: Cultural richness, healthcare, food, affordability relative to mainland capitals. Consider: Cold winters; mainland travel requires a flight.
Geelong has spent most of its history being described as Melbourne’s poor relation – the city you pass through on the way to the Great Ocean Road. That characterisation has not been accurate for years, and it is increasingly absurd.
Barwon Health is one of Victoria’s strongest regional hospital networks. The Bellarine Peninsula and Surf Coast are accessible within minutes. Housing costs remain meaningfully lower than Melbourne’s, though the gap is closing as Melbourne retirees make the move in increasing numbers. The waterfront precinct has been transformed, the café and restaurant scene is genuinely good, and the community – with a strong sporting identity anchored by the Cats – has a warmth and pride that translates well to the experience of newcomers.
For Victorians who want Melbourne-adjacent living at Melbourne-minus prices, with strong healthcare and genuine coastal access, Geelong is the obvious and underpriced choice.
Best for: Victorian healthcare, Melbourne proximity, coastal and bay access, community. Consider: Property prices rising quickly as sea-change migration accelerates.
Townsville is North Queensland’s most practical retirement city – and it is considerably more practical than most people realise. Townsville University Hospital provides strong regional healthcare including specialist services, housing affordability is genuinely excellent relative to its coastal Queensland peers, and the lifestyle access it provides is extraordinary – Magnetic Island is a 20-minute ferry ride away, the Whitsundays are within striking distance, and Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef are easily accessible for day trips and short stays.
The honest conversation about Townsville is the same one that applies to all North Queensland: the summer is hot, the humidity is real, and the wet season is genuinely wet. This is not a town for those who struggle with heat. But for the significant cohort of retirees who actively love warm weather and want access to tropical North Queensland’s extraordinary natural environment at a price point that is manageable on a combination of super and pension, Townsville makes a compelling case. And, of course, there is also the North Queensland Cowboys rugby league team.
Best for: Affordability, North Queensland access, coastal lifestyle, healthcare. Consider: Summer heat and humidity are significant; cyclone insurance is essential.
The Murray River is one of Australia’s great retirement playgrounds, and Echuca is its most charming town. The historic paddle steamers, the river beaches, the houseboats, the extraordinary sunsets over the Murray – there is a quality of life here that is entirely distinctive and impossible to replicate anywhere else.
Echuca’s healthcare has improved significantly, the Echuca Community for the Aged provides strong residential and community care options, and housing affordability remains excellent. The community is warm and genuinely welcoming to newcomers – Echuca has been attracting retirees for long enough that the infrastructure and social networks designed to welcome them are well established.
The caution is simple and important: flood risk along the Murray is real and has been dramatically demonstrated in recent years. Research flood overlays thoroughly before purchasing property, and speak to locals and insurance providers about the practical implications. The right property in Echuca is extraordinary. The wrong one could create significant stress.
Best for: Murray River lifestyle, affordability, community warmth, distinctive character. Consider: Flood risk requires serious property due diligence.
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