Sustainable Population Strategy

Today the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities The Hon. Tony Burke MP released Australia’s first sustainable population strategy which will ensure that future growth in the population is consistent with the nation’s economic, environmental and social wellbeing. The strategy has been built on evidence gathered from expert advice, a sustainable population issues paper, and an extensive public consultation process.

The strategy targets Australia’s patchwork economy, by directing funding to create job opportunities in the outer suburbs of major cities; attract workers to regional areas; improve infrastructure in areas experiencing high growth rates; and drive productivity, sustainability and liveability in cities. These measures are in addition to the expansion of the Regional Skilled Migration Scheme, which will direct 16,000 new migrants to Australia’s regions, in particular to meet the demands of the mining boom.

Minister Burke emphasised that “population change is not only about the growth and overall size of the population, it’s also about the needs and skills of our population, how we live and importantly, where we live.”

The strategy is available here.

The population strategy is an important component of the Government’s broader nation-building agenda, complementing the Government’s policy agenda in other areas, particularly transport infrastructure, where the Government has spent more $1.2 billion on rail and over $6 billion on roads since 2009.  For an update on the progress of these significant infrastructure developments, click here.