While being the most preferred destination for education among international students, Australia's immigration community continues to augment. With thousands of immigrants heading towards the island country for better prospects, Australia has witnessed the fastest growth in Net Overseas Migration (NOM) over the past 4 years. The details of NOM have been released by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS.) NOM is released every quarter with information regarding the total gain in the overall population through immigration. Net overseas Migration Statistics also show the impact of immigration, among other things, on Australia’s economy and culture and is also used for creating future policies by the government. Short term visit to AUstralia are not considered while compiling data for NOM. Ms Cho, Demography DIrector for ABS said that the record high boom witnessed in 2009 was substantially more than the one witnessed now. NOM increased by 9 percent for the year ending September 30, 2016 and added 193,000 people to Australia’s population. Further, it has been noted that Queensland has witnessed the largest growth of NOM at 19%. The overall increase for the year ending September 2016 is 348,700 which tool Australia’s population to 24.2 million. States which saw a significant increase in population due to Net Overseas Migration:
  • Queensland
  • New South Wales
  • South Australia
  • Victoria.
  • Brisbane
  • Sydney
Declining NOM during 2014 and 2915 were a result of the then conservative right wing government lead by Tony Abbott. The rise in NOM delineates a positive outlook for the immigrants in Australia. Professor Brain Salt of Curtin Business School said, ‘Australia is a young and vital nation with cities and regions still underdeveloped in comparison other nations. We will proudly remain an inclusive and generous immigrant nation for generations to come.’ He also mentioned, ‘This growth will be a source of prosperity and diversity in the future as it has been in the past. There may be times when we need to moderate flows or to direct immigration into those parts of the nation where skills and labour are most needed.’ Sources: https://www.border.gov.au/about/reports-publications/research-statistics/statistics/live-in-australia/net-overseas-migration http://www.miragenews.com/stronger-growth-in-net-overseas-migration/ http://www.australiaforum.com/information/immigration/australia-sees-mini-population-boom-as-more-people-arrive-to-live-and-work.html