Australia set for a sea change
A National Sea Change Taskforce report shows the population numbers in Australia’s coastal districts are tipped to grow by 90% over 40 years.
Taskforce executive director, Alan Stokes, said the growth would be equivalent to adding more than 11 new Gold Coasts to the national population.
“If you add in the million or more baby boomers who plan to retire to the coast between 2010 and 2026, this will expand the current population in non-metro coastal areas from 6.4 million to 12.2 million by 2049,” Mr Stokes said.
“The capital cities have doubled in size over the past 40 years but it is most unlikely they can double again in the next 40 years due to a range of factors including geographical constraints and limits to water supplies.”
“It is also unlikely there will be a large-scale movement of people to Australia’s inland areas,” he said.
Nationally, the regional coastal towns identified as being among those to share in the boom included along Victoria’s Bass Coast, South Australia’s Victor Harbour and Fleurieu Peninsular,Western Australia’s Bunbury and Queensland’s Hervey Bay.
Mr Stokes warned the population growth could have “dire implications”.
“Planning to meet community needs associated with this growth is a matter of great urgency and will require an entirely new collaborative approach by the three spheres of government,” he said.
“For all areas (nationally) I think there’s going to be issues around health and aged-care services, public transport, employment opportunities for younger people, and then you’ve got hard infrastructure and roads.”
Health care, public transport and aged care facilities will be key concerns for the region as their population increased.
