Young people cannot carry burden of SA's ageing population on their own

South Australia must ramp up overseas migration to boost lagging labour stocks or accept a stagnant economy for years to come, says the Urban Development Institute of Australia (SA).

The state’s peak representative body for the urban development industry says SA’s ageing population looms as a “back breaker” for young workers as their older colleagues retire.

“As South Australia’s ageing population retires, we cannot expect the younger generation to carry the load on its own, particularly if we want to grow as a state,” says Terry Walsh, UDIA (SA) Executive Director.

“We need to support our state economy and our ever-increasing number of retirees by supporting our young workers with outside help.

“Currently, SA’s annual population growth rate is the lowest on mainland Australia, which represents a massive problem for our local economy.”

Planning for growth is a key policy item in the UDIA (SA)’s “Advocacy Agenda” which it has released in the lead-up to the State Election in March.

Mr Walsh says the state’s current annual population growth rate of less than 1% – or less than 12,000 people per year – is well below other states such as Western Australia at 3.5%, and is below the national average of 1.5%.

“We need balanced and well-managed population growth in SA to ensure businesses across all sectors, including the housing and construction industry, retain access to labour as we lose more skilled workers to retirement,” he said.

“When you consider that our working population has declined from 63% of the total population in the 1960s to less than 50% today – and projected to fall to 32% by 2040 – the writing is certainly on the wall.

“South Australia’s current fertility rate is also well below the rate of population replacement, so we must look at increasing migration numbers to cover the shortfall.

“Without growth in the working population, the state’s tax base to support government services and public infrastructure will also decrease, so the alarm bells should be ringing.”

The UDIA (SA) says the State Government must target annual overseas immigration of at least 8% of the national intake.

“Worryingly, SA’s share of national overseas migration has declined from 10% to only 5% over the past 40 years, while we also continue to experience high rates of net interstate migration,” said Mr Walsh.

“The South Australian Government needs to obtain an agreement with the Federal Government for special visa status for overseas migrants to live and work in SA.

“It also needs to consider taxation inducements to further attract and retain new skilled migrants to South Australia.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Please contact UDIA (SA) Executive Director Terry Walsh on 0408 704 790.