29 May 2009

Emigrating to Australia will cause ACT population to soar

Although the numbers of people emigrating to Australia are temporarily restricted so the economy can catch up on itself, it is predicted that the Australian capital's population will soar over the next five decades because of Australian immigration.

At the beginning of this year, the numbers of people emigrating to Australia through the skilled migration program was reduced and more targeted to the skills needed most in Australia.  However, because the migration program was running at record levels last year, the Australian skilled migration program is still allowing 108,100 people emigrating to Australia on an Australian skilled visa. 

Because the Australian migration program is still running at high levels, the Australian population will continue to grow at an exponential rate.

Canberra's official forecast for the population in fifty years' time takes it to half a million, and people emigrating to Australia are tipped to be a major factor in the steep increase.  Already sitting at 347,000 people, by 2022 the population is expected to hit 400,000.

The government has not made any movements to amend policy to cope with the population increase, although ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope did say that they are well prepared for the impending baby boomer population that is due to become a massive part of the aged population in Canberra.

"These are significant challenges represented by these numbers, but they are policy neutral," he said.

"It's not about whether we should slow population or seek to enhance the population, this is just our best estimate taking into account what the current factors... are."

---

The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with emigrating to Australia.