POPULATION-DYNAMICS IN RURAL SOUTH-AUSTRALIA

In Australia in the 1970s there was a reversal in the long-standing pattern of more than a century of increasing concentration of the population in large urban centres. The aim of this paper is to develop and expand upon the research of previous studies conducted by the authors on this 'turnaround' in Australia. The paper assesses the major changes which have occurred in population trends within the non-metropolitan sector of the nation, South Australia and, in particular, a study area in the lower north region of South Australia. The analysis of the case study region draws upon a survey undertaken in 1968-1970 and partially replicated in 1980 and 1990. It appears that for Australia in general and for the study area the turnaround is continuing but at a slower pace and in a more spatially concentrated pattern. The conclusions must remain tentative until publication of the 1991 census results and further analysis of the 1990 survey.