Changing patterns of population distribution in Australia

Abstract

The spatial dimension of Australia's demography has received limited research attention. This is despite evidence of unprecedented concern among policy makers over perceived wide differentials in wellbeing between different parts of the country. This paper seeks to identify recent and emerging trends in Australia's population distribution, and argues that it is one of the most dynamic and policy-relevant dimensions of the contemporary demographic situation. The paper analyses first the changing distribution of population between the states, then the shifting balance between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Trends in areas classified according to their degree of remoteness are discussed next, the focus then moving to the changing population distributions within nonmetropolitan Australia and within metropolitan areas. It is argued that there is a growing dichotomization in both nonmetropolitan and metropolitan Australia between areas of growth and areas of decline. Some attention is also given to distributional aspects of social wellbeing.