Showing posts with label Australian society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australian society. Show all posts

Friday 15 December 2023

ACOSS and UNSW Sydney survey shows popular support for the Federal Government to intervene to directly tackle poverty and the wealth gap that is threatening Australia’s social and economic fabric

 

This snapshot makes an interesting read. However, participants' responses to questions asked may have elicited attitudes that do not extend beyond the period in which the actual survey was conducted.


"2,000 people from around Australia aged 18 years and above completed the 2023 survey.....

Participants were recruited via a market research panel coordinated by Qualtrics which operates a panel of potential participants who have signed up to be contacted for research participation opportunities."

[Australian Council of Social Service and UNSW Sydney (2023), Treloar C. et al, Community attitudes towards poverty and inequality, 2023: Snapshot report, p.12]



Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), media release,13 December 2023:


Most people support lifting incomes for those with the least


Three-quarters of people in Australia support an income boost for people with the least while less than a quarter think it’s possible to live on the current JobSeeker rate, new research by ACOSS and UNSW Sydney shows.


The latest report from the Poverty and Inequality partnership, Community attitudes towards poverty and inequality 2023: Snapshot report, also shows 74% think the gap between wealthy people and those living in poverty is too large and should be reduced.


The survey of 2,000 adults in Australia shows most people (62%) think government policies have contributed to poverty, while 75% think it can be solved with the right systems and policies.


  • More than two-thirds (69%) think poverty is a big problem in Australia

  • Just 23% agreed they could live on the current JobSeeker rate

  • Another 58% said they would not be able to live on that amount, while 19% were unsure

  • Three-quarters (76%) agree the incomes of people earning the least are too low and should be increased

  • Most people think no one deserves to live in poverty, and that unemployment payments should be enough so people do not have to skip meals (86%) and can afford to see a doctor (84%)


ACOSS Acting CEO Edwina MacDonald said: “This survey shows popular support for the Federal Government to intervene to directly tackle poverty and the wealth gap that is threatening Australia’s social and economic fabric.


Most people know it is simply not possible to live on the punishingly low rate of JobSeeker that traps people further in poverty. Instead, the majority of people think the government has a responsibility to look after those people struggling the most.


We know from the pandemic that the key to solving poverty is lifting income support payments. The government has no excuse not to bring them up to at least the Age Pension rate of $78 a day in the face of such strong public support.”


Scientia Professor Carla Treloar of the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Sydney & lead author of the report said: “Community attitudes can wield significant influence on social policy.


This research underscores the public’s awareness of policy impacts. The fact that the majority of people in Australia believe that government policies both contribute to and can solve poverty and inequality demands immediate policy reform. It’s time to address unjust policies failing those in need.”


UNSW Sydney Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Attila Brungs said: “The Poverty and Inequality Partnership between ACOSS and UNSW exemplifies our University’s vision for societal impact and the power of research to influence positive change.


The insights and robust evidence that the Poverty and Inequality Partnership provides are vitally important for understanding how we can do better for some of the most disadvantaged groups of people in our society.


Millions of Australians live with poverty and inequality. Highlighting community attitudes can help inform shifts in social policies that lead to better outcomes for us all.”


Mission Australia CEO Sharon Callister said: “This report makes clear that Australians want poverty eliminated in Australia, and that most people believe current levels of income support aren’t enough to survive and make ends meet.


For people who are receiving income support and access Mission Australia’s services, the current rate of JobSeeker is profoundly inadequate and simply does not help get people back into work. It often traps them and their families in survival mode and pushes them into rental stress and homelessness.


We hope that the government will start to take community expectations seriously and implement real solutions like adequate income support to end poverty and poverty-induced homelessness in Australia.”


Read the report at: https://bit.ly/communityattitudes2023



Tuesday 12 December 2023

When the next unnatural disaster strikes Australia will your household have enough emergency savings put by to deal with the immediate aftermath?

 

It was a bit like a first draft outline for a B-grade disaster movie plot. 


At various points along the timeline of the first eleven days of December 2023 there was a heady cocktail of high surface temperatures across the continent, as well as high seas expected in coastal waters and flash flooding occurring after rain. 


Drought and widespread heatwave conditions were occurring in New South Wales, extreme fire weather warning in Victoria's mallee district, wild winds, rain dumps and flooding in South Australia. And to top it all off, a tropical cyclone expected to reach landfall on Queensland's far north-east coast.


So it wouldn't have been unusual if thoughts of personal emergency plans didn't pop into our heads - especially as cost of living pressures mean that many household budgets are tight.


So can we afford to live off our own financial resources in the weeks following flood, fire or storm?


Here is what Finder thought on 30 October 2023, excerpt:


Nearly half of Australians have 1 month's worth of savings or less


A worrying 46% of Australians could only survive off their savings for 1 month or less, with just 24% saying they could last six months or more.


Women (54%) are more likely than men (38%) to have one month's worth of savings or less. One in five women (18%) are living paycheck to paycheck with less than a week's savings, which is double the percentage of men doing so (7%).











Thursday 16 November 2023

Mapping Social Cohesion Report 2023 - 17th annual survey by Scanlon Foundation Research Institute - social cohesion in Australia has declined by 13 points since November 2020

 


"Trust in government and concern for inequality are contributing to a declining sense of national pride and belonging....Social cohesion has declined in almost all

domains over the last year." [Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, Mapping Social Cohesion Report 2023, pp. 8, 13]



Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, Mapping Social Cohesion Report 2023, Executive Summary, 14 November 2023:


Social cohesion in Australia has been remarkably resilient through the challenges of recent years. However, we continue to face difficult national and global circumstances, global conflict, economic pressures and uncertainty and division over issues such as the Voice referendum.



As a result – and while we remain connected – our social cohesion is under pressure and declining on some fronts.

Our sense of national pride and belonging has been

declining for some years, discrimination and prejudice

remain stubbornly common, while in more recent years,

we are reporting greater financial stress, increased

concern for economic inequality and growing pessimism for the future. However, in the strong connections we have in our neighbourhoods and communities and the way we increasingly embrace our differences and diversity, there is reason for optimism that we can respond collectively to the challenges we face and restore and strengthen our social cohesion.



Mapping Social Cohesion 2023


The Mapping Social Cohesion 2023 report comes

at a crucial time – a time to take stock and consider

the challenges ahead. In 2023, almost 7,500 people

participated in the Mapping Social Cohesion survey,

making it the largest survey in the series. As has been the case since 2018, the 2023 survey was administered to the Social Research Centre’s Life in AustraliaTM panel.



In preparing this year’s Mapping Social Cohesion report, we have taken extra steps to ensure we are reflecting the views of all Australians, particularly in view of our vast ethnic and cultural diversity. To do this, 251 targeted surveys were conducted with people from Indian, Middle Eastern and African backgrounds in four different languages (including English). We also conducted 55 in-depth qualitative interviews with people who have migrated to Australia over the years. This adds to the growing body of information on the attitudes and experiences of migrant Australians collected through the main Life in AustraliaTM survey, providing a greater, more in-depth and nuanced understanding than ever before.

More information on the surveys and interviews are

provided in the Appendix of this report.



Social cohesion in Australia is under pressure

and declining


In our 2022 report, we remarked that social cohesion

appeared to be at an important juncture. Our indicators

suggested that cohesion had been declining after a

COVID-related spike in 2020. While there were some

signs to suggest that cohesion was returning to a

pre-pandemic normal, declines in our sense of national

pride and belonging, increasing financial strain and a

weakening sense of social inclusion and justice were

warning signs of further weakening in our social fabric.

The results of Mapping Social Cohesion 2023 reinforce

these concerns and underline the precarious and

uncertain social environment of Australia in 2023.

In the last 12 months, the Scanlon-Monash Index of social cohesion declined by four points to 79, the lowest score on record. Since a peak in social cohesion during the COVID-19 pandemic in November 2020, social cohesion has declined by 13 points.



Read and download the full report at:

https://scanloninstitute.org.au/mapping-social-cohesion-2023


Thursday 9 November 2023

AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY STATE OF PLAY: Interest rates and cost of living - there is no good news in November 2023

Reserve Bank Logo


The Reserve Bank of Australia as one of its monetary policy decision tools employs a cash rate target.


In the Reserve Bank's own words:

The cash rate is the interest rate that banks pay to borrow funds from other banks in the money market overnight. It influences all other interest rates, including mortgage and deposit rates.

In technical terms, it is the interest rate on unsecured overnight loans between banks (loans banks use to manage their liquidity). It is our operational target for the implementation of monetary policy.


The Bank's inflation target is; to keep annual consumer price inflation at between 2 and 3 per cent, on average, over time.


On 7 September 2016 the Australian Reserve Bank cash rate target stood at 1.50% and it remained unchanged for over two year and seven months, until it fell by 25 basis points to 1.25% on 5 June 2019.


The cash rate target continued to fall the next five months until it reached 0.10% on 4 November 2020 and remained unchanged until 4 May 2022 when it rose to 0.35%.


Since then the monthly cash rate target announcements began to tread water on 5 July 2023 at 4.10%.


Sadly, on 8 November 2023 the cash rate target again rose by 25 basis points to 4.35% - the 13th rate hike since May 2022.


The Reserve Bank's next monthly target announcement is due on Tuesday, 5 December 2023.


As for the Reserve Bank's inflation target of keeping consumer price inflation at between 2 and 3 per cent, this target range had been met consistently for the ten and a half years up to December Quarter 2021 and ever since been consistently exceeded. Peaking at 7.8% in December Quarter 2022 before gradually falling to 5.4% in September Quarter 2023 with a monthly indicator of 5.6%.


I suggest that readers do not anticipate any interest rate relief this coming December. Nor expect any significant fall in the Living Cost Index or Consumer Price Index as the country enters 2024.


If The Guardian article on the latest Essential Research poll is correct, it is likely that the more than half of all Australian voters who reportedly are struggling financially will read the following with a jaundiced eye.......



Reserve Bank of Australia, MediaRelease, 7 November 2023:


Statement by Michele Bullock, Governor: Monetary Policy Decision Number 2023-30

Date 7 November 2023


At its meeting today, the Board decided to raise the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent. It also increased the interest rate paid on Exchange Settlement balances by 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent.


Inflation in Australia has passed its peak but is still too high and is proving more persistent than expected a few months ago. The latest reading on CPI inflation indicates that while goods price inflation has eased further, the prices of many services are continuing to rise briskly. While the central forecast is for CPI inflation to continue to decline, progress looks to be slower than earlier expected. CPI inflation is now expected to be around 3½ per cent by the end of 2024 and at the top of the target range of 2 to 3 per cent by the end of 2025. The Board judged an increase in interest rates was warranted today to be more assured that inflation would return to target in a reasonable timeframe.


The Board had held interest rates steady since June following an increase of 4 percentage points since May last year. It had judged that higher interest rates were working to establish a more sustainable balance between supply and demand in the economy. Furthermore, it had noted that the impact of the more recent rate rises would continue to flow through the economy. It had therefore decided that it was appropriate to hold rates steady to provide time to assess the impact of the increase in interest rates so far. In particular, the Board had indicated that it would be paying close attention to developments in the global economy, trends in household spending, and the outlook for inflation and the labour market.


Since its August meeting, the Board has received updated information on inflation, the labour market, economic activity and the revised set of forecasts. The weight of this information suggests that the risk of inflation remaining higher for longer has increased. While the economy is experiencing a period of below-trend growth, it has been stronger than expected over the first half of the year. Underlying inflation was higher than expected at the time of the August forecasts, including across a broad range of services. Conditions in the labour market have eased but they remain tight. Housing prices are continuing to rise across the country.


At the same time, high inflation is weighing on people’s real incomes and household consumption growth is weak, as is dwelling investment. Given that the economy is forecast to grow below trend, employment is expected to grow slower than the labour force and the unemployment rate is expected to rise gradually to around 4¼ per cent. This is a more moderate increase than previously forecast. Wages growth has picked up over the past year but is still consistent with the inflation target, provided that productivity growth picks up.


Returning inflation to target within a reasonable timeframe remains the Board’s priority. High inflation makes life difficult for everyone and damages the functioning of the economy. It erodes the value of savings, hurts household budgets, makes it harder for businesses to plan and invest, and worsens income inequality. And if high inflation were to become entrenched in people’s expectations, it would be much more costly to reduce later, involving even higher interest rates and a larger rise in unemployment. To date, medium-term inflation expectations have been consistent with the inflation target and it is important that this remains the case.


There are still significant uncertainties around the outlook. Services price inflation has been surprisingly persistent overseas and the same could occur in Australia. There are uncertainties regarding the lags in the effect of monetary policy and how firms’ pricing decisions and wages will respond to the slower growth in the economy at a time when the labour market remains tight. The outlook for household consumption also remains uncertain, with many households experiencing a painful squeeze on their finances, while some are benefiting from rising housing prices, substantial savings buffers and higher interest income. And globally, there remains a high level of uncertainty around the outlook for the Chinese economy and the implications of the conflicts abroad.


Whether further tightening of monetary policy is required to ensure that inflation returns to target in a reasonable timeframe will depend upon the data and the evolving assessment of risks. In making its decisions, the Board will continue to pay close attention to developments in the global economy, trends in domestic demand, and the outlook for inflation and the labour market. The Board remains resolute in its determination to return inflation to target and will do what is necessary to achieve that outcome.


Friday 3 November 2023

Employee households recorded the strongest quarterly and annual cost of living rises due to increases in mortgage interest charges

 

Employee households recorded the strongest quarterly and annual rises due to increases in Mortgage interest charges.” [ABS, Selected Living Cost Indexes, Australia: Living Cost Indexes (LCIs) measures the price change of goods and services and its effect on living expenses of selected household types, Reference period September 2023]



Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), media release, 1 November 2023, excerpt:








A significant difference between the Living Cost Indexes and the CPI is that the Living Cost Indexes include mortgage interest charges rather than the cost of building new dwellings.


Employee households were most impacted by rising mortgage interest charges, which are a larger part of their spending than for other household types.


Mortgage interest charges rose 9.3 per cent following a 9.8 per cent rise in the June 2023 quarter. While the Reserve Bank of Australia has not increased the cash rate since July 2023, previous interest rate increases and the rollover of some expired fixed-rate to higher-rate variable mortgages resulted in another strong rise this quarter,” Ms Marquardt said.


Living costs for each of the three indexes for households whose main source of income is government payments (age pensioner, other government transfer recipient, and pensioner and beneficiary households) increased more slowly than the CPI in September quarter. The primary reason for this was a fall in their Housing costs for the quarter following the introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates and changes to Commonwealth Rent Assistance. The Energy Bill Relief Fund reduced electricity bills for all households in Brisbane and Perth, and for households eligible for electricity concessions in the remaining capital cities.


From 20 September 2023, the maximum rate available for Commonwealth Rent Assistance increased by 15 per cent on top of the CPI indexation that applies twice a year, reducing out of pocket expenses for eligible households. Given the timing of these changes, the September quarter results show only a partial impact of the Commonwealth Rent Assistance changes with further impacts to come through in the December 2023 quarter.


Living costs rising fastest for employee households


Employee households also recorded the largest annual rise in living costs of all household types with a 9.0 per cent increase, down from a peak of 9.6 per cent in the June 2023 quarter.


Increasing interest rates over the year have contributed to annual living cost rises ranging from 5.3 per cent to 9.0 per cent for different household types. Most households recorded higher rises than the 5.4 per cent annual increase in the CPI.


Higher automotive fuel prices and insurance premiums also contributed to increases in annual living costs for all household types.


After employee households, other government transfer recipients recorded the next largest annual rise in living costs through to September 2023.


Rents make up a higher proportion of spending for these households compared to other household types. Rental prices have increased over the last year reflecting strong demand and low vacancy rates across the country,” Ms Marquardt said.


Sunday 29 October 2023

AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY: Counting Dead Women in 2023


@DeadWomenAus
26 October 2023





Based on media reports collected from 1 January to 26 October 2023 the Counting Dead Women project has recorded 41 violent deaths of females across Australia this year, at the hands of persons known to them. 


In the year to June 2023, according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), 15 of these violent deaths were recorded as murders occurring in New South Wales - one in the Northern Rivers region. 


In 2022 the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recorded 56 women and 11 girls under the age of 18 years murdered - a total of 67 violent deaths - and the attempted murder of another 43 women & girls.


The majority of these deaths appear to have occurred in residential properties.


In 2022 ABS recorded 19 women and girls in NSW as victims of homicide or related offences (murder, attempted murder, manslaughter).  Again, the majority appeared to have occurred in residential properties.  At least 10 of these deaths appear to have been classified as murder.  


SOURCES:

  • Destroy the Joint, Counting Dead Women project; 

https://twitter.com/DeadWomenAus

  • ABS, Victims of crime, Australia 2022, Tables 1-8 & 9-16National statistics about victims of a range of personal, household and family and domestic violence offences as recorded by police.

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/recorded-crime-victims/latest-release#australia

  •  NSW BOSCAR, Female Victims of Homicide (Murder) from July 2021 to June 2023

http://crimetool.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/bocsar/



Sunday 22 October 2023

THOMAS MAYO: Although the Voice referendum was lost, and despite the racist vitriol it unleashed, the movement for Indigenous rights and recognition has grown

 

The Saturday Paper, October 21 – 27, 2023, No. 472:


Although the Voice referendum was lost, and despite the racist vitriol it unleashed, the movement for Indigenous rights and recognition has grown. By Thomas Mayo.



Analysis: The movement that follows the Voice


As a parent of five, I am acutely aware of the way in which our children absorb everything – conversations, body language, snippets of the news and the bits and pieces they share with friends at school. We try our best to protect them from the harsh realities of the world until we think they are ready. They might seem oblivious to it all, but they know more than they tell, as if they are reciprocating our care.


Though I knew this of our children, I wasn’t prepared for my 12-year-old son’s reaction to the referendum loss on Saturday. When I called my wife soon after the loss became official, to see how they were, she told me he had cried. He went to bed early, barely consolable.


The next day, when I checked in on them, she told me William was okay. She remarked on how he had mentioned several times that he felt calm that morning, as if the feeling were strange to him. We came to realise he had been feeling the weight of the referendum on his little shoulders. For the first time since the loss, I cried too.


The Indigenous leadership of the “Yes” campaign called for a week of silence that ends today. There was a need for contemplation after an intense campaign. Anyone who put up their head for “Yes” was brutalised. We were labelled communists, greedy elites, puppets of the United Nations and promoters of a racially divided Australia. None of this is true.


The racist vitriol we felt was at a level not seen for decades in Australia. Indigenous advocates for the Voice could not speak out about the abuse without some sections of the media, whose audiences we needed to persuade, falsely claiming that we were calling all “No” voters racist. Even if only in the way the headlines were worded.


Respected Elder and lifelong champion for Indigenous peoples Marcia Langton probably experienced the worst of this. The stories with negative headlines exploded and continued for more than a week because she dared to mention the race-baiting of the “No” campaign.


The “No” side, on the other hand, was barely scrutinised. When their figureheads claimed racism against them, some journalists showed sympathy and the “Yes” campaign was scapegoated. When leading spokespeople for the “No” campaign were racist beyond reasonable denial, their leaders doubled down defiantly. Most of the media’s focus quickly moved on. The abhorrent “No” campaign cartoon, depicting me in a racist trope and printed in The Australian Financial Review, is one example of many.


In the week of silence, I have had time to reflect on last Saturday’s outcome. I have concluded Indigenous peoples were correct to take the invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart to the Australian people. We were not wrong to ask them to recognise us through a Voice.


For a people with inherent rights but who are a minority spread across this vast continent – with a parliament that will continue to make laws and policies about us – it is inevitable that we will need to establish a national representative body to pursue justice. We need to be organised.


Delaying the referendum was never an option, not even when the polls were going south. Had we convinced the government to postpone the referendum, we would still be wondering what could have been, especially if the gaps continue to widen. We had a responsibility to try now, to use the rare opportunity we had, in the interests of our children. At least now we know where we stand.


While the outcome was disappointing, in all my years of advocacy for Indigenous rights, I have never felt such levels of solidarity.


As a leader of the campaign, I accept that, although we tried our best, we failed. I agree there were aspects of the “Yes” campaign that could have been better and I ponder what else I could have done. These thoughts hurt, like an aching emptiness in my chest.


An honest assessment compels me to mention Opposition Leader Peter Dutton as well. Dutton has shown he is bereft of the qualities held by the Indigenous leaders I have worked with. He is well short of the calibre of his opposite, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.


While Albanese listened to Indigenous peoples respectfully, Dutton ignored us when in power. When Albanese negotiated the constitutional alteration with the Referendum Working Group, he did so in good faith, while Dutton was duplicitous, two-faced, deceitful.


At the next federal election, the record will show the prime minister had a go. He followed through with his pre-election promise to hold a referendum in this term of parliament. He kept his word, even when the going got tough, whereas Dutton has already reneged on his promise to hold another referendum should the first one to fail to pass.


It is noteworthy, because it exposes that this is all politics on his part. If he ever becomes prime minister, it is an indication that he places no value in speaking with Indigenous people before making decisions about them. His promise of a second referendum was decided without consulting Indigenous leaders, not even his own spokesperson on Indigenous affairs.


None of this is bitterness on my part, just truth. Peter Dutton chose politics over outcomes. His career came before fairness. He sought victory at any cost.


When I go home on Sunday – just my 25th day in Darwin this year, having worked almost every day since May 21, 2022 – I can proudly tell my son that though the referendum failed, the movement for Indigenous rights and recognition has grown.


In 2017, we were almost 4 per cent of the population calling for Voice, Treaty and Truth-Telling. As of Saturday, we are nearly 40 per cent, walking together. Almost seven million Australians voted “Yes”. Both major parties would kill for a first preference vote like that.


Probably the most important analysis from the referendum was that polling booths in predominantly Indigenous communities across the entirety of the country overwhelmingly voted “Yes”. We have thoroughly established that this is fact: a great majority of Indigenous people support constitutional recognition through a Voice to Parliament. We seek self-determination over who speaks for us. Claims otherwise are an incontrovertible lie.


To my fellow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, I say we continue our push for our common goals. Don’t be silenced. Be louder, prouder and more defiant. Of course, you will be. The survival of our culture and our babies depends on it.


To the parents I met so many times, who turned up for their first doorknock with their little ones in tow, their “Yes” shirts worn proudly, sunscreen smeared on their faces: keep having those conversations with your neighbours at every opportunity. Keep turning up.


To the small number of people who registered to attend the town hall in Yamba and Grafton, and the hundreds more who turned up without registering, and who expressed their gratitude at how the forum had brought the community together: stay committed to this unselfish cause. In regional communities across the country, the town hall attendances were magnificent. Keep turning up.


To the random members of the public who have hugged me, to the beautiful Elders who treated me like a son, to the fellow union members who organised their communities, not just their places of work, maintain the love for what makes this country unique – more than 60,000 years of continuous heritage and culture.


While the outcome was disappointing, in all my years of advocacy for Indigenous rights, I have never felt such levels of solidarity.


Across the country, lifelong friendships have been made. I have new Aunties and Uncles, like the strong Aboriginal women at Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation in Mount Druitt, who themselves have formed bonds with the local ethnic communities as they campaigned for “Yes”. I love you, Aunties.


In this campaign we saw Liberals and Nationals give speeches alongside Labor and the Greens. We saw corporate chief executives leafleting with union officials. All denominations have prayed together. The “Yes” rallies, more than 200,000 people strong, brought colour, joy and diversity to the streets, in unity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.


Late this week, ending the week of silence, an official statement from Indigenous leaders was made public. In summary: we continue our calls for our voices to be heard, for reform and for justice, and we need your ongoing support.


This is the task ahead. I say to all the hundreds of thousands of people I have spoken with over the past six years, the many friends I have made on this journey: we were always on the right side of history. Young Australians voted “Yes” with us. Imagine what we can achieve if the almost seven million Australians who voted “Yes” continue to have conversations with their neighbours, meeting “No” voters with an understanding that they may have voted “No” because of the lies they were told. In time, we will turn the “Nos” into “Yeses”.


Let us talk of our strengths while addressing our weaknesses. Let us believe in ourselves, our communities and our country, rather than looking over our shoulders at the shadows Peter Dutton has thrown across Australian politics. Let us call on the parliament to shine a light on those shadows, those deathly shadows, lest they continue to undermine our democracy. Ask yourself, which group will be targeted next?


When I was writing my first book about the Uluru Statement from the Heart, published in 2019, my son was just eight years old. He asked me what the title of the book would be. When I asked him what he would call it, he proceeded to do a series of armpit farts. We both laughed. Then I told him I would call it Finding the Heart of the Nation. He asked me, “Where is the heart of the nation?”


I put my laptop down beside me on the couch. I pulled him close. I put my hand on his chest, and I said, “The heart of the nation is here.”


The heart of the nation is still here. It always was and it always will be, waiting to be recognised by our fellow Australians. Whether you voted “Yes” or “No”, I say to you with humility and respect, open your hearts and your minds henceforth. The truth should be unifying, not divisive.


This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on October 21, 2023 as "After the vote".


Thomas Mayo is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander man, assistant national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia and author of six books, including Dear Son – Letters and reflections from First Nations fathers and sons and the bestselling children’s book Finding Our Heart.


October 21, 2023



Thursday 19 October 2023

Australia has been in less than zero population growth from natural increase for over 40 years and continues to supplement its short & long term production & workforce needs through overseas migration


Births, Australia: Statistics about births and fertility rates for Australia, states and territories, and sub-state regions, Reference period 2022, Australian Bureau of Statistics, statistical series.




Click on table to enlarge


Total fertility rate is the number of registered births per woman.

Crude birth rate is the number of births per 1,000 estimated resident population.

Net reproduction rate is the average number of daughters surviving to reproductive age per woman.

Sex ratio is the number of male births per 100 female births.

All statistics are based on year of registration unless otherwise specified.



Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), media release, 18 October 20232:


Australian women are having fewer children, and having them later in life according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).


Emily Walter, ABS head of demography said; “Today’s data continues a trend we’ve seen in births over the last 40 years, with the average age of both mothers and fathers steadily increasing since the mid 1970s.


In 1975, less than 20 per cent of births were to mothers who were between 30 and 39 years old, but now nearly 60 per cent of births are to mothers in this age group.”


Australian women are also having fewer children. The total fertility rate has remained lower than the replacement rate (considered to be 2.1 babies per woman to replace her and her partner, in the absence of overseas migration) since 1976.


In 2022, this was 1.63 births per woman, which was lower than the 2021 rate of 1.70 births per woman, but higher than the 1.59 births per woman recorded in 2020.


Although total fertility remains low, the fertility rate for women in their late 30s and early 40s has significantly increased.


From 1991 to 2022, the fertility rate of mothers aged 35-39 years has almost doubled from 36.0 to 69.3 births per 1,000 women, and for mothers aged 40-44 years, it has nearly tripled from 5.5 to 15.8 births per 1,000 women.


In contrast, the fertility rate of teenage mothers has reached an all-time low of 6.8 births per 1,000 women, from 22.1 births per 1,000 women in 1991.” Ms Walter said.


The falling fertility rates of women aged under 30 years and the rising fertility rates of women in their thirties and early forties, are consistent with women having their first and subsequent births later in life.


This shift towards older parenthood largely follows from young people tending to reach the milestones which usually precede parenthood (i.e. leaving the parental home, gaining economic independence, and marrying or forming long-term de facto relationships) later than was seen in previous decades.


In 2022:

  • Australia registered a total of 300,684 births, a decrease of over 9,000 from 2021 but higher than 2020 numbers.

  • Women aged 30-34 years had the highest fertility rate (114.9 births per 1,000 women or about 1 birth for every 9 women), followed by women aged 25-29 years (83.0 births per 1,000 women).

  • Of women aged 15-49 years, women in the 45-49 years cohort continue to have the lowest fertility rate (1.1 babies per 1,000 women).

  • The fertility rate of women aged 15-19 years was the lowest on record (6.8 babies per 1,000 women).

  • The Northern Territory recorded the highest total fertility rate (1.73 babies per woman), followed by New South Wales and Queensland with 1.71 babies per woman.

  • The Australian Capital Territory had the lowest total fertility rate (1.41 babies per woman).


When one looks at the seven local government areas which make up the NSW Northern Rivers region, in 2022:


Ballina – 439 registered births, total fertility rate 1.83

Byron – 364 registered births, total fertility rate 1.42

Clarence Valley – 575 registered births, total fertility rate 1.42

Kyogle – 95 registered births, total fertility rate 2.40

Lismore – 466 registered births, total fertility rate 1.84

Richmond Valley – 262 registered births, total fertility rate 2.27

Tweed – 1,060 registered births, total fertility rate 2.00.

[Table 3.1 Births, Summary Local Government Area]


It would appear that despite high rainfall & rain dumps, east coast low storms and record floods, in 2022 the stork still managed to deliver a good many bundles across this region.