Work At Home Phenomenon Helps Changing The Australian Bush

In the article “Why We’re Going Bush” , The Australian outlines how they plan to cover the way the internet is revitalizing “The Bush” with work at home and telecommuting types becoming as prevalent as those making their living “off the land”.

CONTRARY to the widespread belief that the bush is dying, Australia’s non-metropolitan population is growing at least as fast as that in the main cities. And it’s predicted it will continue to rise at least for the next decade.

Graeme Hugo, professor of geography at the University of Adelaide, says non-metropolitan population growth is not evenly spread. He observes that the edges of our cities are becoming more diffuse with a new form of urbanism as telecommuters, people who work from home using the internet, and tree-changers, people seeking acreage and a better quality of life, move to the fringes.

Anderson says it is time for the bush to start talking itself up, rather than down. While many 18 to 35-year-olds leave the bush to seek education and careers, once they marry and start families they are starting to return to towns such as Gunnedah, his local centre. “I can think of a lot of families around Gunnedah, their kids have gone away, some of them made a lot of money too, they have experienced the world, but they came back.”