Regional Australians Walk 75 Minutes More in Walkable Towns
If you live in a regional town where the shops, school, and park are all within a reasonable walk, you probably don't think much about it. You just walk there. But if those same places are spread out along a highway with no footpath, you drive — even when it's only a kilometre or two.
That difference matters more than most people realise. A new study from the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania has put a number on it: people in highly walkable regional areas walk 75 minutes more per week than those in low-walkability areas. That's not a marginal difference. That's close to half the recommended weekly physical activity target, generated simply by how a town is built.
The research, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, is the first study to show that walkability has a bigger impact on physical activity in regional communities than in urban ones. And that finding has real implications for how we think about getting — and staying — active outside the city.
What "Walkable" Actually Means in This Context
The researchers didn't use a vague definition. Walkability here is about connectivity and convenience — how easily and quickly you can reach everyday destinations on foot. Can you walk to the local shops without crossing a four-lane road? Is there a footpath connecting your street to the school or the nearest park? Can you get to a bus stop without walking on the shoulder of a road?
The study merged Tasmanian government health data with geospatial walkability assessments to map how these infrastructure factors relate to how much people actually walk. The results were clear across the board, but strongest outside urbanised areas.
The numbers by area type
- High-walkability regional areas: residents walked 75 minutes more per week compared to low-walkability regional areas
- Medium-walkability regional areas: residents walked over 60 minutes more per week compared to low-walkability
- High-walkability urban areas: residents walked 38 minutes more per week compared to low-walkability urban areas
The gap in regional areas is nearly double the urban one. That's a significant finding. It suggests that when a regional town invests in connected footpaths and accessible destinations, the return in physical activity is disproportionately large.
Why This Matters for Health in Regional Australia
Only about one in four Australian adults meets the full physical activity guidelines — 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate-intensity activity per week, plus muscle-strengthening work on at least two days. Regional Australians, on average, do worse. They face higher rates of preventable chronic disease, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers.
An extra 75 minutes of walking per week won't fix all of that on its own. But it's a substantial chunk of the recommended target, and it comes without any programme enrolment, gym membership, or behaviour-change campaign. It comes from the footpath being there.
As lead researcher Dr Sharon Campbell put it: the study reveals "a clear link between walkability and residents' physical activity levels across the state, with an even stronger relationship in regional and rural areas." Senior author Professor Verity Cleland added that improving walkability could offer "a simple, but effective solution to help address health inequalities" in regional towns facing unique health challenges.
The Infrastructure Gap Between Urban and Regional Areas
Here's the uncomfortable part. The study also found a higher proportion of regional areas classified as low walkability compared to urban areas. That's not surprising if you've spent time in Australian country towns. Many were built around roads, not footpaths. Street networks often dead-end into paddocks. And decades of government planning and infrastructure funding have prioritised roads and driving, particularly outside the capitals.
Professor Cleland was direct about this: "Walkability shouldn't be limited to urban centres. No matter where you live you should be able to walk around your local area safely and conveniently."
The research makes a case that even modest improvements — connecting a few missing footpath links, adding a safe crossing near a school, extending a path to the local shops — could shift a regional area from low to medium walkability. And medium walkability alone was associated with an extra 60 minutes of walking per week. Those improvements also tend to increase access to local greenspaces, which carry their own well-documented health benefits.
What Walking Actually Does for You
Walking doesn't get the attention that high-intensity training or gym culture does, but the evidence for its health benefits is enormous. The Public Health Association of Australia's CEO, Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin, summed it up bluntly: "If we could put the benefits of physical activity into a pill, everyone would be taking it."
Regular walking reduces the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and several types of cancer. It improves sleep, mobility, strength, and mental health. It's something families can do together, it works at nearly every stage of life, and it costs nothing. For people who are also interested in how social connection supports staying active, walking groups are one of the most accessible entry points — particularly for older adults in regional areas.
For people in regional areas who may not have easy access to a gym, a pool, or organised sport, walking is often the most realistic form of daily exercise. But only if the infrastructure supports it.
How walking stacks up against the guidelines
Australia's physical activity guidelines recommend adults aim for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week. Walking at a brisk pace counts as moderate intensity. An extra 75 minutes of walking per week — the difference this study found between high and low walkability — covers between a quarter and half of that target. That's a meaningful contribution from something as simple as having a connected footpath.
What Could Change — and Where to Look
The researchers are calling on local, state, and federal governments to invest more in walkable infrastructure in regional towns. It's worth noting that this doesn't necessarily mean major capital works. In many cases, the gaps are specific and targeted: a missing footpath segment, a poorly lit route, a road crossing that forces pedestrians to take a long detour.
Some regional councils are already working on this. If you live in a regional area and want to know how walkable your town actually is, start by walking the routes you'd normally drive. Note where the footpath disappears, where the crossings feel unsafe, and where a short walk becomes a long one because the street layout forces you around a dead end. Those are the gaps that, according to this research, make the biggest difference.
If you're already looking for ways to walk more regularly, local walking groups can help — they're free in most cases and run in regional areas across Australia. For broader options, the KeepActive activities directory lists sporting clubs, fitness groups, and social sessions that are open to newcomers.
The Menzies Institute research will be discussed further at the Public Health Association of Australia's Prevention Conference in Hobart from 5 to 7 May 2026, where the theme is "Sustaining Prevention" — examining how prevention systems can be funded and supported for the long term.
