People and Place, vol. 7, no. 2, page 18 Figure 1: Percentage of Australia's population aged 6 5 and over under different annual net migration (ANM) scenarios, TFR = 1.65, 1998-2098 Previous article appeared here in print journal. A NOTE ON AGEING, IMM IGRATION AND THE BIRTHRATE Rebecca Kippen The ageing of Australia’s population is inevitable. Immigration could increase the size of the population substantially but still have little effect on the age structure. If policy makers want to minimise the proportion aged 65 and over without adding large numbers of extra people, it would be more effective to adopt policies that raised fertility. Australia’s populatio n is getting older. A useful measure of population ageing is the proportion of the population aged 65 and over. Demographic projections show that this proportion is likely to double over the next fifty years. There are three reasons for the ageing of Australia’s populatio n. First, the birth rate is low and declining. T his necessarily implies that the proportion of people in older age-group categories will increase. Second, life expectancy at older ages is