Where to from here?
Dr Rebecca Kippen, focusing on her work as a demographer, led an internal seminar and discussion that reached staff across Central and East Victoria. The title of the seminar was ‘Where to from here? Population and health projections for Victoria, Australia and the world.’
Demographers project populations by making assumptions about future levels of age-specific fertility, mortality and migration. The United Nations projects that if fertility rates globally continue to fall, world population will level off at around 11 billion by the end of this century. Currently world population is increasing by 1 billion every 12 years. The Australian bureau of Statistics projects Australia’s population may increase to 36 million by 2056.
The proportion of the population aged 65 years and over is projected to rise to 24% (from 14% in 2012). This population ageing has significant implications for the provision of health services into the future.