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Articles on Australian population
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What real issue does a low birth rate pose, and for whom?
Most of the problems confronting the world come down to population growth. But where women are given the choice, they limit the number of children they have.
Our survey found strong opposition to Australian megacities, with most people preferring population growth to be in satellite cities and rail hubs outside the capitals.
It took just 5,000 years for large and well-organised groups of people to populate all corners of the continent.
Under a severe scenario, Australia’s population will be 4% smaller than if the pandemic hadn’t occurred.
Long before coronavirus hit Australia we were moving less between states and regions. Some worry about economic impacts, but a greater concern is inequality if some people find themselves ‘trapped’.
New research shows just how many first people were needed to create a viable population in what is now Australia.
Population growth has pros and cons, and the Morrison government’s plan is less about a change in immigration numbers than about increasing the benefits and minimising the costs.
Scott Morrison says population pressures on major cities demand changing migrant intake caps.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said Australia is “the highest-growing country in the world”, with population growth “double than a lot of other countries”. Is that right?
In a South Australian leaders’ debate, Jay Weatherill and Nick Xenophon disagreed over the extent to which young people are leaving the state in search of better opportunities. We asked the experts.
Do Muslim couples in Australia have ‘on average 4.5 children’ while other couples have ‘1.5 children’? Could Australia have a ‘Muslim majority’ in ‘a couple’ of generations? Let’s check the evidence.
Australia’s GPI, a broad measure of national wellbeing, has stalled since 1974. So what has been the point of huge population and GDP growth since then if we and our environment are no better off?
The latest statistics show Australia’s population growth in the last decade has been significantly higher than in other developed countries.
Top contributors
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Demographer, POLIS Centre for Social Policy Research, Australian National University
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Honorary Professor of Demography, Macquarie University
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Principal Research Fellow, Charles Darwin University
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Associate Professor, Queensland Centre for Population Research, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland
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Sean Ulm is a Friend of The Conversation.
Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, James Cook University
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Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Node Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Flinders University
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Deputy Director of the Hugo Centre for Migration and Population, Adelaide University
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Associate Professor in Population Geography, The University of Queensland
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Research student, School of Natural & Built Environments, Adelaide University
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Professor of Public Policy, ADFA Canberra, UNSW
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Michael Bird is a Friend of The Conversation.
JCU Distinguished Professor, ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, James Cook University
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ARC Future Fellow, Metagenomic Cluster Lead at the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, UoA Node Leader for the ARC Center of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Adelaide University
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PhD candidate, The University of Queensland
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Partner Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, James Cook University
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Principal Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne