5 Reasons to Earn Your MBA in Perth

This article is sponsored by the University of Western Australia Business School. Learn more about its MBA programs.

Western Australia has a reputation for being laid back; Australians joke that WA stands for ‘wait awhile’. So, Melbourne and Sydney locals may just be surprised by the ways their smaller cousin, Perth – capital of WA – is altering perceptions.

Perth is a place of reinvention and innovation, and there is no shortage of Perth attractions for visitors and residents alike. The city is a thriving metropolis, a comfortable mixture of the modern and the old, where alleys are transformed into quaint bars and a building that once housed a printing press now boasts a popular restaurant. Its growing stature within the business community also means investors and expats are increasingly attracted to the city.

It is home to nearly two million people, but the greater Perth area is ‘user friendly’ – providing free buses and trains that a New York Times travel writer described as, “so immaculate they felt like toys.”

The University of Western Australia has also evolved. Established in 1913, the university grew from an initial class of a few hundred to 25,000 today. Nearly 25% of its student body hails from other countries – 50% if we only take the MBA class into account. Home to Nobel Laureate Barry Marshall, UWA is part of Australia’s prestigious and research-intensive Group of Eight network. UWA Business School ranks at 27th in the QS Global 200 rankings for Asia.

Is your interest piqued? Here are five reasons to consider Perth as the place to get your MBA.

1. Perth is a great place to be a student

Perth’s health and education systems, along with easy access to parks and beaches, go some of the way to explaining its status as the ninth-most livable city in the world according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

With its wide range of diversions, both indoor and outdoor, it’s no wonder the city also earns top marks as a student city. Few places in Australia are as comfortable for international students as a region where some 200 different nationalities are represented. There are also over 170 different languages spoken – a great bonus for the nearly 25,000 international students who study in the city.  

Besides a wide range of activities, both indoor and outdoor, it’s also a top student city because public transit improvements means that even in suburbia, urban experiences are a short trip away. Greta from Sweden recommends Perth as a student city because, “[I]t is a bit smaller than a big city but it still offers everything a big city has to offer.” In March, the International Student Festival honors those who have chosen to pursue their education away from their home countries.

2. Global industry connections

Long an exporter of natural mineral and energy reserves, Western Australia grew faster (4.9%) than any other state in Australia between 2004 and 2014, and as much as 5.5% in 2013-14. Western Australia’s gross state product (GSP) was US$169,109 billion in 2013-14, accounting for 14% of Australia’s gross domestic product (GDP). GSP per capita was US$79,555.

Because it is relatively close and in the same time zone as China, Singapore, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, doing business with some of the most strident economies in the world is easy. A number of Fortune 500 firms have offices in Perth, and many senior managers and executives make themselves available to MBA students, delivering guest lectures and providing mentoring, as well as hosting industry projects and boardroom lunches. UWA Business School boasts alumni chapters in Australia, Singapore, the UK and the US. This combined with the strong expatriate/alumni network can mean a great deal for job-seeking MBAs. Oh, and for those who wish to remain in the country, Australia offers MBA grads the second highest starting salary in the world according to QS research.

3.  Natural attractions like King’s Park and Botanic Gardens and Caversham Wildlife Park

When MBA students eye potential schools, they usually don’t focus on an area’s natural landscape. Maybe they should. Sure, studying in an urban environment has its advantages, but when city stresses build up, rustic escapes are ideal. An abundance of Perth attractions of the natural variety offer diversions when studying gets overwhelming. And since Perth boasts the most hours of sunshine of any Australian capital city, your scenic explorations will almost certainly be accompanied by pleasant weather.   

Western Australia is known for both remoteness and scenic beauty. From waterfalls to forests, parks to beaches, natural delights abound. Living in Perth means the beach is just a 25 minute train ride away. The university is also near one of the world’s largest urban parks, King’s Park and Botanic Gardens. This Perth attraction offersover 3,000 species of flora situated amongst the park's 400 hectares.

Visitors wanting to experience Australia’s famously unique fauna can visit the Caversham Wildlife Park, northeast of the city in West Swan, to see koalas, kangaroos, bandicoots, emus, quokkas and other unique creatures.

For some more grownup pursuits, a 20 mile loop on West Swan Road offers over 40 wineries, five microbreweries and two distilleries. With a few bottles to bring home, you’ll be ready to find some fun things to do in Perth…

4. The variety of things to do in Perth

Perth recently began offering special licenses to smaller bars, resulting in huge growth in numbers. Popular with locals and visitors looking for something different, places with names like The Old Crow and The Stables Bar (which as its name suggests used to be a stable) are a welcome addition to the list of things to do in Perth.

For the more culturally minded, the once gritty Northridge neighborhood provides an artistic cornucopia. A short walk from the Perth train station, the Perth Cultural Centre complex includes the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art and the Western Australian Museum.

If live theater is more to your thing, the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia is also part of the complex. Offering a trio of venues, the spaces host everything from ballet to opera to plays. The largest, a 575-seat traditional proscenium theater, the Heath Ledger Theater, is named after one of the city's best-known native sons.

No matter what the excursion, as you explore things to do in Perth, you will have little trouble staying awake. As a travel writer recently noted in The New York Times, “Australian coffee culture is serious, doctrinal business, complete with lexicon: Know thy ‘long black’ (an espresso with added hot water) from thy ‘flat white’ (one with added milk).” Although a large US based coffee chain’s introduction of a less foamy cappuccino called a ‘flat white’ has led to a dispute over whether the drink originated in Australia or New Zealand, visitors will be well served just knowing the terms.

5. An innovative city

Perth’s isolated geographic location has the advantage of producing numerous independent, innovative individuals. This thirst for innovation stretches back a long way. In 1903, the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme saw a 530km pipeline supplying water to Kalgoorlie, a town northeast of Perth. More recent innovations include a locally developed spray-on skin to assist burn victims and SwitchMyLoan, a mortgage rate comparison begun by UWA MBA graduate Daniel Jovevski. Today even undergrads from UWA’s business school are creating popular apps and social impact programs.

This article is sponsored by the University of Western Australia Business School.