Recently, I traveled to Australia to visit family. I took a few weeks off from writing, blogging and posting. It was an important and transformational trip. I have a brother in Melbourne. We had different parents, and we didn’t grow up in the same house or hemisphere, but he is my brother, nonetheless. When we first met, we knew within a short period of time that we were “found family” and we essentially just went with it. I have written on many occasions about the people we meet in life. The people who choose to love us. When we find these people, they are great gift to us. We have an opportunity to be a gift to them as well. Aside from visiting family, we learned a lot about the country.
What I found in Australia was a beautiful young country with so many aspects of society and life feeling familiar. At the same time, there were many things that were distinctly different. The world as massive as it is became a bit smaller in the sense of my perception of humanity. I recognize if Australia was all indigenous people, the conversation would be different. We spent time with family talking, exploring, watching sports and thinking about the world. Naturally, I wish planes could get us there faster and that it were more accessible overall.
The country is growing exponentially and they simply don’t have enough people with trade skills to keep up with demand in the building industry. One report stated that they need 90,000 people immediately to keep up with demand. The country itself has room for millions of people. At the time of my writing this
the current population of Australia stands at approximately 26,640,713 people1. This figure is based on Worldometer’s elaboration of the latest United Nations data. Here are some additional details:
- Population Density: Australia has a population density of approximately 3 people per square kilometer.
- Urban Population: Approximately 86.1% of the population resides in urban areas, which amounts to 22,768,759 people in 2023.
- Median Age: The median age in Australia is 37.5 years.
Australia’s population growth rate for the year is approximately 0.98%2. It’s worth noting that Australia ranks 55th in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population. The country covers a vast land area of 7,682,300 square kilometers (approximately 2,966,151 square miles) 2.
You may notice that people live together in the cities which presents its own challenges. The Australian people still welcome in many people due to migration. In 2023, they had a net annual gain of 518,000 people.
They have challenges as well. They are looking for ways to acknowledge their history with the indigenous people while growing themselves and identifying the past, current and emerging future. The indigenous population represents about 3-4 % of the total population but the country makes a clear effort to make it clear they were there before settlers arrived. The cost of living is high, housing prices are going up and they are dealing with infrastructure issues and the management of growth.
Most people that I talk to about it ask about the travel. I’ll acknowledge that it is a very long trip and the jet lag at the end of the trip was much more difficult than at the beginning. It is absolutely worth it to go to Australia. It was on my list of places to go and now it is on my list of places to go back to.
If you were ever thinking of going, you should consider making plans right away.
Back to the grind!