Why Australia Is Letting Its Towns Die

If you map out every bank branch that closed in regional Australia over the last eight years, the pattern looks almost intentional. 596 towns that once had a major bank now have nothing. A third of all regional branches have disappeared since 2017. But it's not just banks. Layer the towns that lost their GP. Add the ones where the hospital stopped performing surgery. Include the schools that lost their second teacher. It's the same towns, the same inland corridors, the same slow retreat from the parts of Australia furthest from the coast. Australia's population is exploding — but that growth is being poured into a few postcodes on the edges of Sydney and Melbourne while entire regions hollow out. No one calls this an official policy. But when you see the same thing happening in 596 towns, in every state, for over thirty years, you have to ask: is this neglect, or is it actually the plan? #regionalaustralia #australiantowns #ruralaustralia #australiaeconomy #populationdecline