The Effect of Policies in Population of Australia and Italy

In this entry, two countries are compared in their population conditions, as well as the strategies that they're taking to regulate both population increase and the internal conditions that ensure the welfare of the people and the environment.


Australia

Main Facts

• Australia's capacity to sustain a large population is limited because the continent is largely arid with old, nutrient-poor soils and a variable climate.
• Australia's population growth rate of 1.2 per cent is one of the highest of developed (OECD) countries, with annual natural increase (120,000 to June 2001) being slightly ahead of net overseas migration.
• According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia will have a population in 2051 of between 24.1 (fertility 1.6 births per woman and net overseas migration over 70,000 per year) and 28.2 million (fertility 1.75 and net overseas migration 110,000)
• Most environmental indicators (biodiversity, water quality, soil etc) are declining in Australia, meaning the current population is not living sustainably at the current standard of living
• Australia has an ageing population, though compared with most other developed nations, it has a comparatively young population

Objectives

• To stabilise human population numbers both nationally and internationally as soon as possible.
• To determine what is an ecologically sustainable population at an acceptable level of material consumption, both nationally and internationally.

Actions required

• The government should develop an integrated population policy that encompasses immigrant intake, natural increase, aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, tourism, foreign aid, internal migration, and education.
• Taking a precautionary approach to tourism, recognising that temporary residents and visitors also place a burden on resources while travelling to and within Australia.
• Ensuring that Australia's educational and training institutions are adequately funded such that they provide all the skills needed for the functioning of the economy.

Italy

Main Facts

• Population at 58 million that will decline to 56 in 2025 with a net immigration of  
• 150,000 per year. If no migration, decline to 54 million in 2025.
• Decline of 4 million, but: - 2 (0-20); - 5 (20 to 65); + 3 (65 and over).
• Median age in 2025 would be of 51 years, highest in western Europe.
• Total fertility in 2004 being 1,33  as a slight recovery over minimum of 1.19 from 1999. Among the lowest fertility in the west (Spain, Japan: lower; Germany about the same).
• Life expectancy of 81, also among the highest in Western Europe.

Objectives

• Empowering the young
• Reversing the postponement syndrome
• Long term immigrants

Actions required

• Reforming the admission processes for improving inmigration.
• Establish appropriate selection criteria such as language and skills.
• Providing resident cards after 3 years instead of 6.
• Voting rights in local elections for residents; reforming citizens with better integration.

Comparison

• Both countries are MEDCs concerned with an aging population and for which migration represents probably the most important source of population growth. Life quality and expectancy increasing in both countries as well as median age. Fertility decreasing in Australia while slightly increasing in Italy from a dramatic low.
• Objectives differ greatly between both, with Italy giving much more importance to the migration and empowering the young people. Australia seems to take more into importance the conditions inside the country that regulate population.

From

http://www.ds.unifi.it/livi/pubblicazioni/does-italy-need-population-policy.pdf

http://www.mnforsustain.org/australia_sustainable_population_policy.htm