LUMEN Spring 2022 - Flipbook - Page 35
the early 1990s, South Australia saw
an increase in interstate migration,
with a growing number of people
from other states seeing South
Australia as an attractive state to wait
out the pandemic. The small gains in
interstate migration sparked by the
pandemic, however, didn’t make up
for the overall decline.
“South Australia actually gained 100
people per quarter from interstate
movement, which may seem like a
small amount, but previously the
of migration for South Australia’s
population growth.
According to Michael, “overseas
migration is critical to mitigating the
effects of population losses and plays
a fundamental role in growing the
overall population”.
The reports found young people
aged 15-24 felt the biggest
employment shocks during the
pandemic. The areas faced with the
biggest employment cuts, such as
hospitality, retailing and recreation
state was losing approximately 1350
people per quarter,” said Michael.
The report investigated what South
Australia’s population might have
looked like if the borders remained
closed and found the population
would decline to 1.70 million by
2024, below the 1.72 million figure in
2017 – highlighting the importance
service, disproportionately affected
young people.
The recommendation from the
papers is that more support for
education and training of young
people is the key to offsetting the
employment disruptions felt
by pandemics.
“Our analysis confirms the dire need
to improve the levels of support for
education and training for young
people, not only in response to
COVID-19, but in the interests of
creating a well-qualified base on
which young people can build
long-term, sustainable careers,”
said Michael.
We hope lockdowns and closed
borders are a thing of the past, but
having information on hand for
another wave, or new pandemic, will
put South Australia in a stronger
position to make informed decisions.
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Professor
Michael O'Neil
Photo credit:
Matt Turner
ALUMNI MAGAZINE - SPRING 2022
33
