












































AUSTRALIAN POPULATION STUDIES 2018 | Volume 2 | Issue 2 | pages 1–2 
 

© Wilson, Charles-Edwards and Corcoran 2018. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence 
3.0 Australia (CC BY-NC 3.0 AU). Journal website: www.australianpopulationstudies.org 

 

Editorial 

Introduction to the special section        
on Australia’s population policy 

Tom Wilson*  Charles Darwin University 
Elin Charles-Edwards  The University of Queensland 
Jonathan Corcoran  The University of Queensland 

*Corresponding author. Email: tom.wilson@cdu.edu.au. Address: Northern Institute, Charles Darwin 
University, Ellengowan Drive, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia 

Published on 12 November 2018 

 

This issue of Australian Population Studies includes a special commentary section on Australia’s 
population policy. Population issues and population policy debates periodically find themselves in 
the political and media spotlight, and recent months have seen a resurgence of interest in these 
topics. In part this attention was the result of Australia’s population officially passing the 25 million 
milestone in early August (ABS 2018), though population issues had been gaining momentum from 
earlier on in the year. A number of politicians and well-known figures have advocated for lower 
immigration and lower population growth, with relatively few voices supporting current or higher 
growth rates. While much attention has, as usual, focused on annual net overseas migration totals 
and the overall growth rate of the population, on this occasion many commentators have also 
expressed concern about the growth rates of Melbourne and Sydney, and argued for a greater 
proportion of immigrants to be directed away from those centres. Sensing the increased political 
sensitivity of the issue, the Australian Government created a new Minister for Cities, Urban 
Infrastructure and Population in addition to the established portfolio of Immigration, Citizenship and 
Multicultural Affairs as part of the cabinet reshuffle accompanying the change in Prime Minister in 
August (Parliament of Australia 2018). Many will be watching for population-related policy 
announcements from these Ministers with interest, particularly in the lead-up to the next federal 
election. 

In the special commentary section of this issue three Australian demographers present their 
responses to the question ‘What sort of population policy should Australia adopt?’ (if any). The 
purpose is to add some academic perspectives to the wide-ranging population policy debate. All 
contributions underwent the same double-blind reviewing process applied to regular journal papers. 
Peter McDonald argues that Australia already has a comprehensive de facto population policy and 
that the country should retain it until at least 2026, especially in light of the labour supply crunch 
coming in the next decade. Nick Parr sets out the case for Australia to adopt an official population 
policy and focuses particularly on the Skilled stream of the Migration Program. Importantly, he also 
calls for more research on demographic issues to build up a more comprehensive evidence base for 
Australia’s population policy. Liz Allen also argues for an official population policy which eschews 

http://www.australianpopulationstudies.org/
mailto:tom.wilson@cdu.edu.au


2 Editorial: Wilson, Charles-Edwards and Corcoran Australian Population Studies 2 (2) 2018 

demographic targets and instead emphasises the wellbeing of individuals and communities, and 
long-term sustainability. 

References 

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2018) Australia's population to reach 25 million. Media release. 
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyReleaseDate/C3315F52F6219DE9C
A2582E1001BC66A?OpenDocument. Accessed on 8th October 2018 

Parliament of Australia (2018) Current Ministry List: the 45th Parliament. 
https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/
parliamentary_handbook/current_ministry_list. Accessed on 8th October 2018. 

 

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyReleaseDate/C3315F52F6219DE9CA2582E1001BC66A?OpenDocument
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyReleaseDate/C3315F52F6219DE9CA2582E1001BC66A?OpenDocument
https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/parliamentary_handbook/current_ministry_list
https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/parliamentary_handbook/current_ministry_list

