Boomtown! NEW RESIDENTS' NIGHTS HIGHLIGHT GROWTH AND DIVERSITY
The booming population of the Golden West is best illustrated by the number of recent arrivals who attend Dubbo Council’s new residents’ nights, Mayor Councillor Mathew Dickerson believes.
With the next event being held on Wednesday, May 22, they also highlight the increasing ethnic and cultural diversity of the region, he added.
“if you look at our new residents and citizenship ceremonies form when I was on council 11 years ago, there were only two major countries where they were coming from, New Zealand and the UK, with occasionally someone from the Asian sub-continent,” Cr Dickerson said.
“Now, there’s a lot of Nepalese who are number one, then Indians are number two, followed by countries like the Philippines, Russia, Vietnam, Macau (China), and Pakistan,” he added.
He explained that the welcome to new residents’ events are a more current reflection of the changing face and popularity of the region, than the citizenship ceremonies themselves.
“Because you have to have been in Australia for some years, there’s always a lag between citizenship ceremonies over new arrivals, with the welcome ceremonies
showing who has come here most recently.
“They also show the number of internal citizens who are choosing to make Dubbo their home by moving here… we’ve had people from all over Australia, from
Queensland, Victoria, from right across the land,” Cr Dickerson said.
The COVID-19 lockdowns were a pivotal moment for regional centres like Dubbo, with workfrom-home and online services,
meaning many people started seeing their future outside of the major metropolitan areas.
“Compared to the overall state, which had a growth of about 3.8 per cent during the pandemic period, Dubbo region certainly grew faster than the state average.
“We grew by about 4.5 per cent over the same period, our job now is to maintain that momentum,” Cr Dickerson said.
Dubbo Council hosts the new residents’ events every six months to officially welcome newcomers to the region, and also to provide them the opportunity to meet with representatives of council and local community organisations including service clubs, volunteer groups, and sporting clubs.
Hannah Lyons-uhl moved to Dubbo from Sydney in 2022, attending a new resident night held at the Old Dubbo Gaol last year.
“The new resident night was perfect timing for me, as it was only a week after I moved to Dubbo from Sydney,” Ms Lyons-uhl said.
“I really enjoyed seeing all the local businesses and having a chat to people that had also made the move to Dubbo, getting their tips and tricks for setting myself up in the city,” she concluded.
Interested in attending?
Go to: dubbo.com.au/live/ new-resident-night
The New Resident Guide can also be viewed at: dubbo.com.au/live