Suburb of the Month BALLARAT, VIC 3350

It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth most populated inland city in Australia. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the City of Ballarat, which encompasses both the urban area and outlying towns spanning an area of 740 square kilometres. 

Ballarat is one of the most significant Victorian era boomtowns in Australia. The Victorian gold rush transformed Ballarat from a small sheep station to a major settlement. Gold was discovered at Poverty Point on 18 August 1851 and news quickly spread of rich alluvial fields where gold could easily be extracted. Within months, approximately 20,000 migrants had rushed the district. Several Australian mining innovations were made at the Ballarat diggings and unlike many other gold rush boom towns, Ballarat fields experienced sustained high gold yields for decades.

Proclaimed a city in 1871, its prosperity continued until late in the 19th century, after which its importance relative to both Melbourne and Geelong rapidly faded with the slowing of gold extraction. Today, Ballarat is a primarily low-rise city and apart from the area around Ballarat Airport there are few established height limits for buildings. There are two principal activity centres within the urban area, the Central Business District (CBD) and Wendouree. Beyond the central area, urban Ballarat extends into several suburban areas. Settlement patterns around Ballarat consist of small villages and country towns, some with less than a few thousand people.

Ballarat is the commercial capital of the Central Highlands and the largest city in the Goldfields region of Victoria — a significant tourist destination. Ballarat is known for its history, culture and its well preserved Victorian era heritage.

Situated in Victoria's Central Highlands region, it has been called the "City of Statues, the "Historic City" and the "Garden City". Its golden origins are evident in the ornate, flamboyant buildings, the elaborately laid out gardens and grand streetscapes. Today it is a major regional and tourist centre and Ballarat is characterised by its well-preserved classic Victorian heritage and architecture. In 2003 Ballarat was the first of two Australian cities to be registered as a member of the international League of Historical Cities.  

As Victoria's second largest regional centre, Ballarat provides residents with a wide variety of facilities and amenities. It has become a major education centre offering a number of primary and secondary schools and the University of Ballarat, which offers education through a large international students program and through distance education programs. There are two hospitals in the town, a library and several sporting venues. The city centre has numerous cafes and eateries, museums and craft shops, and there are several museums located throughout the area celebrating Ballarat's history as a Gold Rush town. Ballarat Botanical Gardens are particularly impressive, Lake Wendouree is excellent for water sports and rowing on the lake is particularly popular. Ballarat Wildlife Park is a popular tourist attraction which covers 32 acres. Ballarat is the main retail economy in the region and has several key retail districts including a pedestrian mall known as Bridge Mall comprising over 100 traders. There are also indoor shopping malls including Central Square Shopping Centre and Stockland Wendouree, better known as Wendouree Village, with a large number of specialty stores. Major department stores include Myer, Target, Big W, Kmart, Harvey Norman and Harris Scarfe. Additionally, each of the major supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Aldi) are represented. Servicing the financial sector are branches of the big four Australian retail banks, along with Bendigo Bank and St.George Bank and a number of smaller independent financial services firms.

As a major service centre for the populous goldfields region, Ballarat has large sectors of employment in business including retail, professional services and trades as well as state and federal government branch offices for public services, healthcare and non-government service organisations. Collectively these industries employ more than half of the city's workforce and generate the bulk of the city's economic activity.

In recent years, a large technology park, the University of Ballarat Technology Park with communications centre has been established, with tenants including IBM and employing over 1,400 people.

Reflecting Ballarat's status as a major commercial and retail centre, residents are largely employed in skilled and professional employment within the town centre itself, working in industries such as education, community services, recreation, personal services and retail. In recent years the industrial sector has taken off in Ballarat and a large number of its residents are now employed in industry. Other major sectors of employment in the city include service industries, state and federal government branch offices and agencies and health care.

The city centre has very convenient access to the freeway which provides a direct route to Melbourne.                          

At the time of the 2006 Census the population of Ballarat was 78,221, of which 47.8% were males and 52.2% were females. Of the total population in Ballarat (Urban Centre Localities)  

	Houses	Units
Predicted Annual Growth over next 5 years	4% + p.a	0%+ p.a
Current median rental yield	4.9%	5.2%
Current median value	$324,000	$221,000
Total Return, average last 10 years	12.4% p.a	12.8% p.a