You wouldn't know it from the metropolitan news you see in your social feed most days or on your TV most nights but 36 per cent of Australians live outside the capital cities.
That's 8.8 million Aussies keeping it real out here in the real Australia.
We're talking about those spectacular and spacious bits of this wide brown land that are, proudly and blissfully, not Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane.
And they are by far and away the best bits of Oz, of course - the dinky-di country towns and the idyllic coastal hamlets, the farming, mining and industrial centres that feed, power and build the nation and the large regional cities that more and more of us are calling home.
Beautiful places like northern Tasmania, where they do a roaring trade in exporting Tassie devils to New Zealand.
Wild places like Esperance in Western Australia, where, oddly, the kangaroos have developed a taste for salmon.
Hidden places like Bordertown, in South Australia, where former prime minister Bob Hawke was born and where the motorbike that famously shaped his destiny is on display.
Happening places, like Bendigo, where the prestigious Bendigo Art Gallery has a new director with an exciting vision.
Cool and crafty places like Newcastle, where the quaint art of quilting has become Insta-fabulous and the distilling of bespoke gin is oh-so in.
Welcome to the real Australia, where the 160 local news websites and newspapers of Australian Community Media (ACM) have for decades been the glue that brings their communities - the large and the small - together.
This page will bring you the best stories from these parts as well as our week day ramblings from the Voice of Real Australia newsletter, which you can also sign up to today to receive updates direct to your inbox.
Your exclusive newsletter will bring you the stories that matter beyond the big cities - all curated by our journalists and editors based in every state and territory.
From Port Macquarie to Port Lincoln, from the Blue Mountains to Bunbury, from Wagga Wagga to Warrnambool, the ACM network serves an audience of more than 7million Australians in regional, rural and suburban areas.
Your Voice of Real Australia newsletter will feature news updates and insightful commentary from such trusted mastheads as the Newcastle Herald, The Border Mail, The Courier in Ballarat, The Examiner in Launceston, Queensland Country Life and The Land.
From your nation's capital, The Canberra Times has independent analysis from inside that much-discussed "bubble" of politicians and public servants, but also close-up coverage of the cool stuff going on at our national institutions, such as the Australian War Memorial and the National Gallery.
From The Wimmera Mail-Times in western Victoria to the Katherine Times in the Northern Territory, our dedicated journalists, photographers and editors are reporting daily on the people, places and issues that matter in communities around the nation.
Meet the Voice of Real Australia Team:
Jacob McArthur, Journalist, Northern Daily Leader
Nadine Morton, regional breaking news reporter, Central West, NSW
Andrew Lotherington - Journalist, Western Advocate
Betina Hughes, Group Journalist, Maitland Mercury
Elizabeth Anderson, Journalist, Stock and Land
Kathy Sharpe - Group Editor, Australian Community Media
Chris McClennan, Editor, The Katherine Times
Hayley Warden, Journalist, The Land
Jamieson Murphy, Journalist, Northern Daily Leader
Ben Langford, Journalist, lIlawarra Mercury
John Hanscombe, Editor, South Coast Register
Damon Cronshaw, Journalist, The Newcastle Herald
Rachael Houlihan, Journalist, The Warrnambool Standard
Melanie Whelan, Journalist, The Ballarat Courier
Gareth McKnight, Editor, Mandurah Mail
Carla Hildebrandt, Journalist, Mandurah Mail
Robin Tennant-Wood, Journalist, Braidwood Times
Rob Inglis, Journalist, The Launceston Examiner
Lachlan Bennett, Journalist, The Burnie Advocate
Chris Knight, Editor, Macleay Argus
Tracey Fairhurst, Editor, Port News
Jodie Bruton, Journalist, The Border Mail
Derek Barry, Editor, North West Star
Stan Gorton, journalist, The Islander
Sally Cripps, senior journalist, Queensland Country Life
