After spending a year abroad in Europe the aspiring osteopath returned to Melbourne, studying for five years and falling in love with the city lifestyle. 

It was only after returning to her home town to work two days a week that the benefits of regional living became apparent to Ms Fraumano. 

“I was still in the mindset of loving Melbourne and I was hesitant to come back,” Ms Fraumano said.  “In a short space of time I got busier and busier up here, I ended up full time here and bought into the clinic and realised real estate was a lot cheaper.  I could really start to see the advantages.” 

The 29-year-old professional’s story is one of many the Committee for Ballarat will attempt to capture in an effort to change the way the region is viewed. 

Ms Fraumano said the benefits of a growing city as well as Ballarat’s sense of community both needed to be promoted when selling the city to future residents. 

“For my profession whether I was in Ballarat or Melbourne I’d probably still be earning the same of money, so if you’re in Ballarat your house costs half the price,” Ms Fraumano said. 

“We’ve got all the good stuff in terms of having great schools, good hospitals and access to all the services everyone needs with benefits of being in a regional city.”

Promoting these strengths to a generation of young professionals, both new and returning, will be critical to turning around the city’s population challenges.  As of the 2016 census just 17.4 per cent of Ballarat residents were aged between 20 and 34, well below the statewide average of 22 per cent.  The region’s median age of 42 is five years older than the Victorian standard.

“You don’t want to have all these great students at the great schools of Ballarat and lose them all to the city and never get them back,” Ms Fraumano said.  “We need people to be coming back to keep the city going.”

With Ballarat’s more than 100,000 population growing at two per cent a year, the city’s peak advocacy body wants to redefine the way western Victoria’s largest population base is perceived. 

Committee for Ballarat will unveil its ‘More than Gold’ campaign this weekend in an effort to collect stories from residents about why they choose to live, work and invest in the region. 

In addition to teams visiting locations across the region on November 25 and December 1, a social media campaign will also seek to engage with a younger demographic to share their stories about living in Ballarat. 

Robyn Reeves, who heads up Committee’s Health and Wellbeing taskforce, said the project sought to continue the work of the 2015 video Ballarat: The Moment is Now video in promoting the city to tourists and prospective residents alike. 

Over the past 15 years Ballarat’s population has ballooned by more than 20,000, with the percentage of us born overseas increasing by about three per cent. 

“There’s been a sense in the past Ballarat’s a conservative place and there’s nothing to do so it’s about changing the public perception,” Ms Reeves said.  

“We want to gather up stories under all the headings about what makes Ballarat unique and special, whether it be education, health, manufacturing, arts and culture, sport and recreation.” 

After collating the stories a coffee table book will be released by April 2018.  

The information collated will also be used by Committee in its lobbying efforts when speaking with state and federal governments and businesses.  Committee for Ballarat chairman Janet Dore said lobby groups, councils and politicians alike would find value in the stories when advocating for the region. 

“To be able to tell real stories of people’s experiences in Ballarat brings the real situation home to decision makers who are based in capital cities and might not get to come here often,” Ms Dore said.