Why should we care about WA’s population growth?

Australia’s organization has skyrocketed complete nan past 125 years.

In 1901, 3.8 cardinal people called Australia home.

Today, Australia’s organization is astir 7 times larger, pinch more than 3 million group surviving successful WA alone.

But nan organization maturation of nan world’s sixth-largest country hasn’t ever been linear.

RISE AND FALL … AND RISE AGAIN

The nation’s organization took a important deed during World War 1, according to nan Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Nearly 40% of Australia’s full antheral organization aged betwixt 18 and 44 enlisted. More than 60,000 of those men ne'er returned location – devastating their families and loved ones.

The nonaccomplishment impacted nan nation’s organization growth, and owed to nan men’s young age, it besides impacted nan nationalist commencement rate.

Around 20 years later, Australia entered a post-World War 2 ‘baby boom’, which peaked successful 1961 erstwhile nan commencement complaint reached 3.6 babies to each woman.

Caption: Australia knowledgeable a post-war babe boom, which peaked successful 1961
Credit: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Shortly after, fertility rates started to diminution arsenic nan costs of having children roseate and opportunities for women to stay successful nan workforce aliases execute higher acquisition increased.

Today, nan nationalist fertility complaint is little than ever astatine 1.5 births per woman.

Some politicians propose cash incentives to young couples who person a babe could thief thrust up nan nation’s commencement rate.

But Australia’s organization continues to turn and it’s mostly acknowledgment to newcomers.

MODERN MIGRATION

In 2024, group migrating to Australia made up nearly 30% of nan nationalist organization growth.

WA had nan fastest maturation rate astatine 2.5%, which equates to much than 72,000 group relocating to our state.

“Over nan past decade aliases so, nan authorities has really grown substantively,” says Professor Amanda Davies, Head of nan University of Western Australia’s School of Social Sciences.

“Essentially, we’ve emerged arsenic a very strong, medium-sized world city.”

If world migration stopped, WA’s organization would commencement to quickly decline, says Amanda.

“We would diminution successful astir 15 years, possibly a small spot earlier because of nan declining fertility rate.”

But nan dependable emergence successful WA’s organization size comes pinch challenges.

GROWING PAINS

Like immoderate state experiencing organization growth, nan influx of newcomers tin put a strain connected nan organization – from lodging affordability to a conflict of cultures.

“We’re starting to spot that successful nan very ample cities connected nan eastbound coast, possibly a deficiency of guidance and readying successful those spaces – roadworthy infrastructure, powerfulness infrastructure, lodging and h2o – becoming really awesome barriers to group moving there,” says Amanda.

Caption: A increasing organization tin put a strain connected lodging affordability
Credit: Maximillian Conacher via Unsplash

“[The] organization successful Sydney is propped up and keeps increasing by world migration but group past move retired because nan 2-hour commute is intolerable for many.”

Amanda said nan bigger portion of nan puzzle is simply a increasing community’s societal tolerance of larger populations.

“We’re seeing rather a batch of grumblings successful Australia broadly because nan complaint of maturation has acold exceeded nan capacity of group to support up pinch nan alteration that that past results in, truthful nan accrued congestion, accrued lodging prices … those sorts of things,” says Amanda.

“Because it’s been truthful fast, it’s really causing a batch of disquiet astir nan measurement that nine is past changing and nan quality of life.”

While these pressures whitethorn origin unease for immoderate members of nan community, a increasing organization is captious to thief those communities thrive.

FROM LITTLE THINGS, BIG THINGS GROW

Population maturation is basal to a growing economy owed to proviso and demand.

As much group subordinate a community, there’s greater request for equipment and services, including healthcare and education, which person precocious recorded nan largest growth successful migrant employment.

Caption: Migrants activity successful captious roles successful Australia, including healthcare and education 
Credit: Artur Tumasjan via Unsplash

Peter van Vliet is Chief Executive Officer of nan Migration Institute of Australia.

“I deliberation it’s important that group are informed astir what’s astatine liking … if you were to, for instance, extremity migration,” says Peter.

“In immoderate awesome metropolis successful Australia, if you went into 1 of those workplaces and said, ‘everybody who’s a migrant, leave’, you would find astir apt astir 20% of nan unit left.”

Migration is 1 of nan cardinal reasons Australia has remained a successful economical country, says Peter.

With Australia’s organization projected to turn to more than 32 million complete nan adjacent decade, request for services will only proceed to grow.

“We’ve seen that successful countries for illustration Japan, wherever they person debased commencement rates, they don’t person migration and fundamentally their system starts declining and nan surviving standards commencement falling,” says Peter.

“We’ve had decades of continuous economical maturation successful Australia, which astir different countries haven’t had.

“I deliberation that’s mostly nan consequence of migration, and that is thing that benefits each Australians.”