Major impacts of our ageing population
The ageing nature of Australia's population is currently a major focus of government policy. Over the next few decades it is predicted that Australia's proportion of people aged over 65 years will grow substantially. At the same time the percentage of people less than 15 years old looks set to decline at a similarly rapid pace. The main reasons behind this are that people are having fewer children, later in life. The life expectancy of most non-Indigenous Australians is increasing, a condition largely due to better medical technology and reduced mortality rates. It has been predicted that these figures are each going to increase considerably over the next few decades. The Indigenous Australian population is not ageing at the same rate as the rest of the Australian population because sadly, their life expectancy is lower and mortality rates higher than those of non-Indigenous Australians.
Negative effects
Implications of the ageing population will largely be in relation to Australia's built environments. As more people retire, there will be a reduction in human capital, which will impact negatively on the economy. Having a strong economy is dependent upon having a large working population, as this ensures that people can maintain their standards of living. A concern related to this in Australia is that most of the 'baby-boomers' generations are set to retire by the year