Next up on our family’s Melbourne suburb exploration is Rosanna, located around 12 kilometers northeast of the CBD. We’re continuing our search for the right suburb, and Rosanna has some interesting features worth diving into. Here’s what I’ve gathered so far.
Rental Prices
Let’s talk numbers first—because, well, that’s what I do! The rent in Rosanna for a three-bedroom house falls between $430 and $580 per week. That’s quite a range, but one thing to note is that many of the houses I came across seem a bit on the older side. Not a dealbreaker, but if you’re picky about more modern living spaces, it’s something to think about. Buying a house here is a different story—prices are over $1.2M, which is way outside our budget.
Safety
The crime rate in Rosanna is about 10/100, which feels pretty safe to us. With kids, safety is one of our top priorities, so this is a huge plus for the area.
Schools
Schools are another key factor. There are plenty of good primary schools here, like Banyule Primary School, which has an ICSEA score of 1150 and NAPLAN Year 3 scores around 446. It’s also got 666 students, and 59% come from an English-speaking background. Seems like a solid choice.
For high school, Viewbank College is ranked 69th, which sounds impressive, but the Google reviews raised some concerns. While it seems to have a lot of great students, there are also complaints about how the school handles problem students (see Fig). It’s always tricky to get a full picture from reviews alone, but something to keep in mind.
On the convenience front, Rosanna ticks a lot of boxes. There are buses, libraries, supermarkets, fresh markets, and even hospitals nearby. That’s all great, especially if you don’t want to travel far for the essentials.
Natural Disasters
In terms of natural disasters, Rosanna looks pretty safe. The risk here is under 1.6%, which is reassuring. No need to worry too much about flooding or bushfires here, which is always a relief.
Population Diversity
The community in Rosanna is fairly diverse, with the top countries of birth being:
- China: 3.2%
- Italy: 3.2%
- India: 2.8%
- England: 2.5%
- New Zealand: 1.4%
It’s nice to see a bit of variety, which is something we appreciate in a suburb.
That’s my initial take on Rosanna. The rent is affordable, safety is good, and schools are decent—though the high school’s reviews have us pausing a bit. Overall, Rosanna seems like a solid option, but we’re still thinking through all the details before making any big decisions. There’s always more to learn when choosing a place to live, so we’ll keep exploring and updating as we go!
Stay tuned as we continue our Discovering Melbourne Suburbs series. Rosanna is definitely worth a look, but there’s still more to consider as we narrow down the search!