Economic Papers Vol. zyxwvut 26 No. 1 March 2007 pp. 2 9 4 3 zyxw POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT CHANGES IN REGIONAL AUSTRALIA ANNE M. GARNETT* AND PHILIP E. T. LEWIS** Regional Australia has experienced signijkant changes in population and employment since the early zyxwvut 1990s. Evidence regarding these changes has often been anecdotal, with references in political and media spheres to a ‘Sea Change’ or ‘Tree Change’. There has also been considerable public discussion about the effect that the structural changes and misfortunes within the agricultural sector have had on localities in rural regions. The purpose of this paper is to provide and analyse data on regional population and employment changes since the early 1990s. It will also examine the role that the agricultural sector may have had in these changes. This will provide a basis for informed debate and analysis of population changes in regional Australia and the causes and implications of these changes. Keywords: Regional Australia, Migration, Structural change, Rural JEL Code: R23 zyxwvu 1 Introduction Over 27% of the Australian population lives outside capital cities and other metropolitan areas (ABS 2006a). There are significant differences in the rates of employment growth and population change, not only between urban and non-urban regions, but also between coastal, inland, and remote regions. Previous estimates of these differences using broad regional classifications have often failed to identify the full extent of population shifts. This study adopts a method of classification that enables the clear identification of these changes during the period 1991 to 2001 using Census data. Population estimates are updated to 2005, with the use of survey-based data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The following section summarises various methods used to classify regions in Australia and determines the most appropriate system of classification for use in the present study. It then examines recent regional changes in population and employment in Australia. Section 3 analyses net population changes throughout Australia’s regions, examining where people are moving from and going to, suggesting explanations for the Centre for Labour Market Research, Murdoch University. Centre for Labour Market Research, University of Canberra. zyxwv 1.) 29 zyxw 0 2007 THE ECONOMIC SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA ISSN 0812-0439