Australias most important resource is its people, and consideration of the

future numbers of people, their characteristics and where they live is of

the greatest national significance. Before 178, Australias population is
estimated between 300000 and 750000. Around 80% of the population
lives within 50km of the coast. The release of the third intergenerational
report Australia to 2050, has raised the spectre of Australias population
increasing from its current 22 million in 2009 to 35 million in 2050. The
current population trends that indicate an ageing population and a
demographically diverse population as well as population increase, have
been identified by the government in order to ecologically sustain the
population.
In Australia, there tends to be around two births for every death The total
fertility rate is currently 1.978, and has increased slightly in recent years.
However, it is migration that has contributed most to the increase in
population growth. The Australian migrant intake comprises two major
elements. On the one hand are people who came to Australia as
permanent settlers (around 158 021 people). This number of permanent
arrivals is very high, but the biggest change in Australian immigration in
the last decade has been the increased inflow of temporary residents,
especially students and highly skilled temporary workers. This has
stressed the need for ecological sustainability.
The government has implemented policies and laws to combat this
population increase, especially around the coast and major cities
(Sydney). To address the declining fertility rate the government applied
maternity allowances, family tax benefits and childcare and parenting
payments to prevent unsustainable population decrease, which would
place a strain on infrastructure etc. However, these policies are at odds
with plans to reduce carbon and water footprints and is placing stress on
state and regional planning infrastructure and ecological systems. Due to
the increasing population resources are being utilised at a much more
rapid rate exerting all our resources. Australia has the fifth largest
ecological foot print in the world.
Life expectancy in Australia continues to increase each year, and currently
stands at 79.2 years for males and 83.7 for females. Increased survival is
contributing to population growth and to an ageing of the population,
mainly centred on the coast. Centenarians (aged 100) are the fastest
growing age group and are expected to number 38000 by 2051. This is
mainly due to lifestyle choices such as delaying marriage, having children
at a later age due to more women in the work force and as a result having
less children.
The ageing population was addressed through policies such as compulsory
superannuation, Medicare, public hospitals and infrastructure such as
retirement villages, in order to reduce implications of an ageing population
such as reliance on tax payers, less people in the workforce leading to less

money in the economy, as well as health problems associated with old

age. To manage the ecological sustainability the government has fulfilled
the demand for more public transport to reduce the carbon foot print. As
well as addressing the demand for alternate energy sources due to an
increased use of devices utilised by the elderly during extreme weather.
To conclude, the increasing population as well as an increase I life
expectancy has applied pressure on the necessity for ecological
sustainability.