Data reveals that overseas migration might be propping up the Riverina’s population as more and more people are moving out of the regions. Photo: File.
Recent data shows immigrants have been filling a gap left by locals leaving the Riverina, with a public policy expert arguing challenges in childcare, housing and career growth might be the reason for the departures.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census data shows the Riverina experienced four consecutive years of negative internal migration leading up to the 2023-24 financial year.
Charles Sturt University (CSU) Associate Professor Larissa Bamberry found there was a “natural pattern” for young people (aged 15 to 24) to move to capital cities for education in her research.
“There are solutions for that, but they revolve around better access to education and training for young people in local, regional areas,” she said.
Dr Bamberry said it was difficult to “drill down” the demographic of the people who were leaving (age, skill level and qualification level), but warned there could be issues if the 2026 census points to skilled people leaving.
“That becomes a bigger problem for the region, because that’s actually a loss of skills rather than people,” she said.
“I guess that’s also where the issue of housing and childcare come in. You often see those things happening in parallel.”
In a 2021 study, Dr Bamberry found the wider Riverina region was experiencing skill shortages which were further exacerbated by migration caps placed during COVID.
“The Riverina region has, traditionally, been an area that’s struggled with skill shortages,” Dr Bamberry said.
“If we didn’t have migration, then a lot of the services industry in regional Australia would not be able to function.”
Almost 80 per cent of businesses said they had difficulty filling in vacancies, with half of those vacancies left empty for 12 months. The sectors that were impacted the most were hospitality, health, agriculture, science and technology, and logistics.
Compared to the Riverina, populations in coastal regions such as Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour grew faster during COVID. Dr Bamberry highlighted three key issues: limited childcare spaces, housing, and jobs with opportunities for growth.
“The other part of the story is: where are the people who are leaving going to? Are they going to capital cities, or are they going to other regions?” she said.
“If so, what is it that we need to do to keep people in the Riverina?
“What is it that they’re looking for? What are the problems that they’re having?”
Despite that, Wagga house prices continue to surge, even with people leaving the Riverina.
According to Domain’s June 2025 House Price Report, Wagga’s property prices have surged 56.5 per cent over the past five years. This trend appears to have continued in 2025, with average house prices rising by $31,000 over the past 12 months.
“I think there’s been quite a bit of research that’s shown that large levels of migration hasn’t affected accessibility to the housing market,” Dr Bamberry said. “So we’re always going to need migration to actually stimulate the need for housing.
“Australia’s always been a country reliant on international migration. It drives our economy and is a fundamental part [of our] economy.
“Yes, in some cases, that can result in an overstimulation where there seems to be tightness in the housing market, but you’ve got to balance that.
“A lot of our skilled migration is tradespeople who come into the building and construction sector. They actually help us build those houses that we need. So there could be a mismatch between the skilled migrants that we need coming in and the housing being built.”
