Key messages:

• Australia has an effective population policy – and should stick with it at least to 2026.
• Australia is facing a labour supply crunch in the next decade as the baby -boom retires and because the future cohorts entering the labour force at young ages are much smaller than the current young working population.
• Labour demand is very strong and the growth in job vacancies is approaching 20% per annum.
• The occupational structure of the labour force is set to change considerably. Young workers are more easily able to adapt to these changes than are older workers.
• At present labour demand is strongest in the big cities. If this demand is not met by immigrants, it will be met by people moving from the rest of Australia and from New Zealand.
• The big cities will continue to grow. There is no substitute for investment in urban infrastructure