Western Australia continued to record the fastest population growth rate at 2.2%, followed by Queensland (2.0%), Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory (both 1.8%), New South Wales and the Northern Territory (both 1.5%), South Australia (1.2%) and Tasmania (0.9%).

Australia’s population reached 22,342,000 by the end of June 2010, growing by 377,100 people over the year. Net overseas migration accounted for 57% of this growth, with the remaining 43% due to natural increase (births minus deaths).

Net overseas migration continued to decline to the end of June 2010. The preliminary net overseas migration estimate for the June quarter 2010 (32,300 people) was 44.3% lower than the June quarter 2009 (58,100 people).

Based on preliminary figures, there were 302,200 births registered in the year ending June 2010, 1.7% more than the previous year. The number of deaths registered over the same period was 140,600, 2.2% fewer than the previous year.

Australia’s median age (the age at which half the population is older and half is younger) increased by 4.8 years over the past 20 years, from 32.1 years at 30 June 1990 to 36.9 years in 2010. Of all the states and territories, Tasmania recorded the highest median age (39.9 years) and the Northern Territory the lowest (31.3 years) at 30 June 2010.

During the same period, the proportion of children aged 0-14 years decreased by 3.1 percentage points. The proportion of people aged 15-64 years increased by 0.7 percentage points and the proportion of people aged 65 years and over by 2.4 percentage points.

Family households are projected to show the largest increase and to remain the most common household type in Australia. The number of family households is projected to increase by as many as 2.4 million households, from 5.6 million in 2006 to up to 8.0 million in 2031.

Couple only families are projected to increase the most rapidly of all types of families over the next 25 years. If recent trends continue, couple only families will overtake the number of couple families with children, in either 2013 or 2014. This is mainly related to the ageing of the population, with baby boomers becoming ‘empty nesters’.

The number of Australians living alone is projected to have the most rapid increase of all household types, increasing by up to 91% over the next 25 years to 3.6 million by 2031. The rapid increase of people living alone is mainly related to the ageing of the population.

The figures are based on results from all ISPs operating in Australia with more than 1,000 active subscribers as at 31 December 2009.

Other highlights of the ABS survey:

• The phasing out of dial-up internet connections continued with nearly 90% of internet connections now being non dial-up.
• Australians also continued to access higher download speeds, with 62% of access connections having a download speed of 1.5Mbps or greater.
• Digital subscriber line (DSL) continued to be the major technology for connections, accounting for 51% of non dial-up connections. However, this percentage share has decreased since June 2009 when DSL represented 57% of non dial-up connections.
• Mobile wireless via a datacard, dongle or USB modem was the fastest growing technology in internet connections, increasing to 2.8 million in December 2009. This represents a 40% increase from June 2009.

Active subscribers are defined as subscribers who have accessed the internet or paid for access to the internet during the three months ending 31 December 2009.

Source: ABS

Other highlights of the report include:

• Digital subscriber line (DSL) continued to be the major technology for non dial-up connections, accounting for 57% (4.2 million) of these connections. However, this percentage share has decreased since December 2008 when DSL represented 63% of non dial-up access connections.
• Mobile wireless subscribers had the next highest share, increasing significantly from 20% of all non dial-up connections (1.3 million) in December 2008 to 27% (2 million) in June 2009. This represents an increase of 51% over the six month period.
• Northern Territory subscriber numbers continued with an upward trend increasing by 20% since December 2008 to 83,000.
• The general trend towards higher download speeds continued, with 57% of subscribers now using a download speed of 1.5Mbps or greater, compared with 51% in December 2008.

The IAS was collected from data provided by Internet Service Providers based in Australia. The ABS explained that the scope for the June cycle of IAS has been expanded to contain results for all ISPs operating in Australia with more than 1,000 active subscribers at the end of the reporting period (i.e. as at 30 June 2009).

A complete report of the IAS is available for download here.