Australian town offering people $20,000 to move in

An Aussie outback town is so keen to grow its population it’s offering $20,000 to entice residents to move there and help the region grow.

Quilpie is a tiny Queensland town in the middle of nowhere, 1000km west of Brisbane and close to the Northern Territory border.

With land prices for under $20,000, the region is essentially giving away plots to newcomers willing to move to the desert.

Quilpie Shire Council first introduced its Home Owner Grant two years ago and offered a $12,500 grant for people who buy land and build in the region the same land size as Tasmania.

It now hopes increasing the scheme to $20,000 will boost the town’s population by 20 per cent to 1000.

Quilpie Shire Council Justin Hancock (pictured) hopes to lure more locals to the outback town

‘We were the first council in Outback Queensland to introduce such a policy, and it was a huge success – we had interest from all around Australia as well as globally from the US, India and Ireland,’ council chief executive Justin Hancock told the Western Times.

‘Our new $20,000 grant will cover most of the price of their land if they build and live on it.’

‘You would be hard pressed to find a better deal anywhere in Australia,’ Mr Hancock said in 2021.

‘Depending on the cost of the land chosen, it can equate to us essentially giving land away.’

The subsidy has been increased to factor in rising land valuations, rates and cost of living pressures.

The initiative was first launched when the town had more job vacancies than houses. 

It saw seven blocks of land sold and attracted new business to Quilpie.

It has been successful in luring a Japanese academic to the town.

Tessa McDougall and Tom Hennessy made the 1000km move to Quilpie from Brisbane

Amenities include supermarkets, a butchery, a bakery, newsagent, hairdressers, retail shops, a hospital, a medical centre, a pharmacy, two schools, an early learning centre, a community gym, sports ovals, tennis and basketball courts, free swimming pools, weekly flights and lots of open space.

To be eligible for the grant, residents must be new homeowners, build a new property worth less than $750,000 and live in Quilpie for at least six months.

Young couple Tom Hennessy and Tessa McDougall have no regrets about calling Quilpie home as their city friends struggle with the property market.

He has a job with the council while his partner moved to Quilpie to take up a teaching position.

‘There’s probably not a lot of people our age who are getting into the property market – but it’s so affordable in Quilpie, and even more so with this great land grant, and we’re confident it’s going to be a great investment for our future,’ Mr Hennessy said.

‘It’s a great lifestyle and small-town vibe, there’s no crime, and everyone is pretty laid back.’

Quilpie (pictured) is 1000km west of Brisbane and is close to the Northern Territory border

The home grant scheme has lured a Japanese academic to live in Quilpie (pictured) 

The couple were among the original scheme recipients in 2021 and were happy with their investment.

‘It’s boosted the value of the land – we didn’t expect this to take off,’ Mr Hennessy told Daily Mail Australia at the time.

‘The land was $12,500, but with the grant we can get all that back,’ he explained.

‘The house was about $100,000.’