Canberra loses its ‘youth’

“Canberra is a peculiar place,” Property Council of Australia’s executive director, Catherine Carter, begins. “It has one of the best – if not the best – education systems in the country and the lowest unemployment rates, yet we cannot attract young people into the territory,” she adds.

Ms Carter tells DPS News over the next 40 years, Canberra’s population aged between 70 and 80 years old will soar by more than 200%, leaving the territory with one of the highest proportions of aged people in the country.

The trend is among many featured in the Property Council of Australia’s new Apple app, Our Nation, which will soon go live. The app picks ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in future growth scenarios and will show locations across the country where the population is ageing rapidly.

“It is a sneak peak at our nation to see how it advances and compares to other locations in the country,” Ms Carter explains.

“It seems strange that younger people are not drawn to Canberra and because of this, government needs to undertake research and a plan of action in order to provide infrastructure support to people as they age, as the territory will see a changing demographic in the years to come,” she adds.

However, Council on the Ageing ACT’s chief executive, Paul Flint, tells DPS News Canberra’s fight to preserve its youth has not always been an issue.

“Canberra once had the youngest population in the country, but because of the wave of employment in the late 60s and 70s that group is now coming through to retirement age,” Mr Flint says, adding he understands why many older people flock to the territory.

“Dare I say, Canberra is an easy city to live in. There is clean air, nice countryside, but it is more so for its size; there are a wide range of interests here,” he maintains.

Claiming to have some of the country’s best health services, Mr Flint adds there are hobbies and crafts of interest for a range of people, including volunteering opportunities for older people.

“All of these things are reasonably good, and a lot of people are coming to Canberra now and going to newer areas where there are apartments which are usually well located,” he says.

However, with the good comes the bad, as Mr Flint reminds people not to become complacent.

“On the flip side, Canberra has high property prices and rental values making it very difficult for people to relocate to more appropriate housing,” he says.

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