Post Secondary Education Planning: The Demographic Context. A Discussion Paper.

The demographic context that will affect postsecondary education in Western Australia is examined, with attention to recent trends in population growth as well as population distribution and projections to the year 2021. The analysis is based on the 1981 Population and Housing Census and population projections of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). It is projected that Western Australia's population might grow from 1,299,094 in 1981 to 1,859,031 in 2001; the population of Perth might grow to 1,360,811, about 73.2 percent of the state's population by 2001. Within the Perth Statistical Division, the population residing in the North Metropolitan and Southeast Metropolitan areas is likely to grow at faster rates than the population of other areas. Outside the Perth Statistical Division, population projections are unreliable; however, increases would be expected in coastal towns and their adjacent regions as well as in resource development areas. The influence of the Corridor Plan for Perth on future population distribution is addressed. Appendices include: a summary of ABS assumptions concerning population projections for 1981 to 2021; population projections of Western Australia by age groups (17-24, 25-29, and 30-64) for 1981 to 2001; and a map of the Corridor Plan for Perth. (SW)