Australian Bureau of Statistics
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POPULATION TURNOVER, 2009-10

Population turnover measures the gross flow in each state or territory in relation to the size of the population and reveals the level of turnover experienced by a population. Gross flows can also be used to analyse population redistribution.

Table 5.5 shows that the level of population turnover for 2009-10 varied considerably between the states and territories. The highest population turnover occurred in the Northern Territory where the gross flows represented 14.1% of the Northern Territory's total population. This high level of mobility reflects the fact that the Northern Territory experiences a large number of temporary or short-term interstate moves. These moves are possibly driven by employment conditions and could include Defence Force personnel and workers involved in the mining and associated industries. The Australian Capital Territory also recorded a high population turnover (10.1% of the territory's total population) reflecting the large number of Commonwealth employees, Defence Force personnel, and students.

While Victoria had the third highest number of gross moves (123,600 moves) in 2009-10, it had the lowest population turnover (2.2% of the state's total population). Similarly, the 176,500 gross moves for New South Wales translated to only 2.5% of the state's population turnover.

5.5 Population Turnover and Migration Effectiveness Ratios (MER) - 2009-10(a)
	Interstate arrivals	Interstate departures	Net interstate moves	Gross interstate moves	Population(b)	Population turnover(c)	Interstate (MER)(d)
	no.	no.	no.	no.	'000	%	%
NSW	82 982	93 522	-10 540	176 504	7 184.3	2.5	-6.0
Vic.	63 096	60 541	2 555	123 637	5 499.8	2.2	2.1
Qld	86 405	76 829	9 576	163 234	4 472.6	3.6	5.9
SA	20 701	23 665	-2 964	44 366	1 634.8	2.7	-6.7
WA	33 191	31 229	1 962	64 420	2 269.7	2.8	3.0
Tas.	11 507	11 185	322	22 692	505.4	4.5	1.4
NT	15 662	16 504	-842	32 166	228.0	14.1	-2.6
ACT	17 867	17 936	-69	35 803	355.0	10.1	-0.2
Total	331 411	331 411	. .	662 822	22 151.9	3.0	. .
. . not applicable
(a) Estimates for 2009-10 are preliminary - see paragraphs 9-10 of the Explanatory Notes
(b) Estimated resident population at 31 December 2009.
(c) Gross interstate movements as a percentage of the population at 31 December 2009.
(d) Net interstate migration divided by gross interstate migration expressed as a percentage.

Population redistribution

Another way of looking at interstate migration is to assess how effective migration has been in redistributing the population. This method, known as the migration effectiveness ratio (MER), compares the total net gain or loss to the gross moves and is expressed as a percentage (Bell, 1995)(footnote 1) . Table 5.5 shows that in 2009-10, Queensland had the highest MER (5.9%), gaining 6 persons for every 100 interstate moves in or out of Queensland. South Australia and New South Wales also recorded a high MER albeit negative (-6.7% and -6.0% respectively). This indicates that both states each lost 7 to 6 persons for every 100 interstate moves. The comparative figures for 2008-09 were losses of 10 persons each for South Australia and New South Wales.

Both the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (each with similar numbers of arrivals and departures) demonstrate that high population turnover does not necessarily lead to population redistribution at the territory level. While the Northern Territory's population turnover was 14%, it lost around three persons for every 100 interstate moves in or out of the territory for 2009-10. Similarly, the Australian Capital Territory with a population turnover of 10%, recorded a minimum loss (less than one person) for every 100 movements in or out of the territory for the year.

1 Bell, M. 1995, Internal Migration in Australia 1986–91: overview report, Bureau of Immigration Multicultural and Population Research, Canberra, p109.<back

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