Couch Potato Culture is COOKED

Couch Potato Culture is COOKED.

After years of disruption, people found comfort at home. Streaming services, food delivery, online shopping and working from the kitchen table all became normal. The couch became our world.

But a city cannot build community if too many people retreat from it.

This is not about criticising people for staying home. Many households are under pressure, and a night out can feel expensive. But if staying home becomes the default for too many people, for too long, there are real consequences.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that in 2024, an estimated 15 per cent of Australians aged 15 and over were experiencing social isolation. It also reports that 15 per cent were experiencing loneliness. They point to a wider problem in the way modern life is changing.

We were never designed to live only through screens. A person can have every subscription service in the world and still feel disconnected.

This matters for Hobart.

Our night economy is not a luxury. It supports jobs, local businesses and culture. The City of Hobart has said more than 7,000 people work across 650 businesses in the night-time economy. That includes restaurants, bars, cafes, theatres, galleries, musicians, security staff, cleaners, gyms, and uber drivers.

When people stay home, the loss is not just a quiet street. It is a missed shift, a cancelled gig, an empty table and a business owner wondering whether it is worth opening late.

The arts feel this deeply. Online entertainment has its place, but it cannot replace the atmosphere of a live performance or the simple joy of seeing local talent in front of you.

Creative Australia found that 68 per cent of Australians attended live arts in 2022, but 49 per cent said they were not attending as much as they would like. It also found that 60 per cent missed the atmosphere of a live event when engaging online.

People have not stopped valuing culture. Many have simply lost the habit of going out.

“The answer is not to lecture people out of their lounge rooms. It is to give them a better invitation.”

That invitation must include business.

As a council we need to listen, remove unnecessary barriers, support local ideas and make it easier for people to open their doors with confidence.

Roy Morgan found that meal delivery services grew sharply during the pandemic, with more than 7 million Australians using them in an average three months by 2022, up from 3.6 million in early 2020. That is not just a business trend. It is a cultural shift. More of life is being brought to the front door. The task now is to make public life worth stepping back into.

Small habits matter. A coffee after work. Dinner before a show. A gallery opening. A walk through a well-lit waterfront. A local performance. These are not minor things. They are part of how a city keeps itself alive.

The post COVID years changed our habits. Now we need to change them again, deliberately and positively. Not by forcing people out, but by making public life safer, more welcoming and more worthwhile.

The virtual world will never nurture community like face-to-face social gatherings. It's time we realised our collective couches are cooked