Populations of New Zealand and Australia at the Millennium

A joint Special Issue of the Journal of Population Research and the New Zealand Population Review

Edited by Gordon A. Carmichael with A. Dharmalingam

Published September 2002
ISBN 0-9578572-1-7

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COMPARING POPULATION MOBILITY IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Martin Bell, The University of Queensland

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Abstract
Despite its pre-eminent role as an agent of spatial change, little attention has been given to the way population mobility varies between countries. Rigorous crossnational comparisons offer potentially valuable analytical insights, but require close attention to differences in data, measurement procedures and the computation of movement indicators. This paper compares internal migration in Australia and New Zealand using a framework devised in recent Anglo-Australian research. It identifies subtle but important differences in data collection and coding, and shows that New Zealanders display consistently higher migration intensities, possibly due to compositional effects. Despite this, and close parallels in the causes and patterns of redistribution within the two countries, internal migration is exerting a relatively large aggregate impact on the distribution of human settlement in Australia. Opportunities for further research are discussed.

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