The Contributions of Immigration to Regional Demographic Change in Australia since the End of the White Australia Policy

James Raymer , Australian National University
Qing Guan, Australian National University
James O'Donnell, Australian National University

In the context of countries facing low fertility and population ageing, many countries will look to immigration to address shortages in labour and reduce the effects of population decline. While the short-term effects of immigration are relatively well understood, the long-term demographic consequences of high and sustained levels of immigration are still to be determined. In Australia, the dismantling of racially discriminatory migration policies in the 1970s and introduction of the subsequent large-scale migration program provides demographers with 40 years of data to understand the short- and long-term impacts of immigration. In this paper, we highlight the major contributions that immigration has made towards demographic change across 11 geographic areas in Australia from 1981 to 2021. The analyses utilise recently reconciled demographic component data for 18 different immigrant groups and the Australia-born population by age and sex. While net international migration contributed approximately 48% of overall population growth over the 40-year period, there have also been sizeable contributions made to other demographic processes, including births, deaths, and interregional migration. This research provides new insights into both the long-term demographic effects of diverse immigration streams across state capital cities and regional areas in Australia, and the contributions made by separate immigrant groups during particular periods of time.

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 Presented in Session 60. Fertility and Migration