Australia's population is ageing, and children make up a smaller share of it. People aged 65 and over now make up 18 per cent of Australians. Birth rates have fallen to 1.48 babies per woman, well below the replacement level of 2.1. Fewer workers means fewer taxpayers, while more older people need care. Experts say there are no quick fixes, and that the country needs serious structural reform to share the burden fairly.
Heer Kaur, an Indian migrant in Beveridge, north of Melbourne, chose to have just one child after postponing parenthood to build a career and secure permanent residency. She says the lack of family support pushed up childcare costs and left her working longer hours. Treasury's Intergenerational Report puts Australia's fertility rate at a historic low of 1.48 births per woman, and it names delayed childbearing as a key driver. Demographers say migration will play a growing role in sustaining population growth and the workforce, though migrants often adopt local fertility patterns.
Monica Kranner gave birth to her son Lewis on July 1, 2023, at the age of 54, after seven miscarriages. The couple had tried for years, including IVF, and at 53 Monica travelled to Spain for treatment, as clinics in her home country would no longer take her on. Monica says she has faced disapproving looks and comments from strangers and colleagues about having a child later in life. She says the wait has been worth it and that she and her husband Peter are proud of their son.
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IVF Australia will close its Deakin clinic in Canberra at the end of the year, and patients have until 16 December to arrange alternatives for their stored embryos, eggs and sperm. One patient said the closure could cost families the chance to have full siblings, particularly those without the means to travel for treatment. The company says two of its three Canberra doctors partnered with another provider at short notice, and attempts to find replacement specialists and premises failed. Patients in treatment can have final embryo transfers at the Deakin clinic until 21 December.
Australia's total fertility rate fell from 1.63 in 2022 to a record low of 1.481 in 2024, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. West Australian Professor Ian Brighthope has called for Covid vaccines to be withdrawn and for an independent public investigation into them. Presenters in the source also cited unverified claims linking vaccination to infertility and infant deaths, including assertions from Dr Denis Rancourt and Dr Peter McCullough that are presented as their own opinions and interpretations rather than established findings.
Several mothers say choosing larger families brings significant financial and career trade-offs. Dian Winata returned to work two weeks after her third child's caesarean birth because she was not eligible for government-funded parental leave. Lauren Treweek says motherhood has slowed her marketing career, a setback she calls part of the motherhood penalty. Sociologist Sandra Buchler says the penalty can mean slower career progression and lower retirement savings. Paula Gaziero, a stay-at-home mother of three sons, says caring for her children is a sacrifice she chose and sees it as a temporary season.
A new review published in the Journal of Experimental Biology challenges the widely held belief that cortisol always harms reproduction. The researchers searched studies across mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Of roughly 3,000 studies screened, 68 reported natural cortisol levels during reproductive phases. Of these, 73 per cent reported a significant change in cortisol during healthy ovarian cycles, often rising around ovulation. The authors argue that earlier research relied on high doses of synthetic cortisol, which may have disrupted the body's natural hormone signals.
The High Court has ruled in favour of Rachel Smith, a convicted drug trafficker, who wants to freeze her eggs while in prison. Smith, 36, was sentenced to ten years in Queensland in July 2021. She argued she should be able to preserve her ability to have children after her release, and offered to pay for the procedure herself. The court found Queensland courts had misread the Corrective Services Act, which does not bar egg freezing for this purpose. The matter now returns to Queensland Corrective Services to decide whether the procedure can go ahead.
Australia's High Court has ruled that Rachel Smith, a 36-year-old serving a 10-year prison term in Queensland, can apply to freeze her eggs while behind bars. Smith is serving time for trafficking in a dangerous drug. The court found the Queensland courts had misread the Corrective Services Act, and it ordered the prison authority to reconsider her application under the law. The judges said Smith was likely to lose fertility before her parole. The decision may open the way for other Queensland prisoners to seek egg freezing.
The High Court has ruled in favour of a Queensland prisoner who wants to freeze her eggs while serving a jail sentence. Rachel Smith, who is part way through a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking, had her application to Queensland Corrective Services refused. The department said Queensland law bars inmates from accessing assisted reproductive technology. Smith challenged that decision in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, arguing egg freezing was only a preparatory step, but lost both times.
A woman serving a 10-year prison term in Queensland has won a High Court challenge to freeze her eggs from behind bars. Rachel Smith had applied to the state's prison authority to undergo the procedure at her own cost, but Queensland Corrective Services argued it was banned under the Corrective Services Act 2006. The High Court found the Queensland courts had misconstrued the Act and ordered the prison authority to reconsider her application according to law. The judges also ordered the authority to pay Smith's legal costs.
New research led by Flinders University has found that nearly one in five women who took the AMH fertility test received a low result. Among those who repeated the test after a low result, about one-third later received a normal result. Testing rose more than 13-fold between 2011 and 2021, according to the researchers. Experts say the test cannot predict whether a woman can get pregnant. They warn it can cause anxiety and lead to costly treatment, and say women should seek accurate information from their GP or reliable sources.
Australia's high court has dismissed an appeal by MACH Energy against a ruling that the approval of the Mount Pleasant coal mine expansion was unlawful. Retired teachers Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan brought the legal challenge. MACH Energy said it accepted the decision. The judgment sets a legal precedent for fossil fuel approvals across Australia. Elsewhere, a new therapy combining gene therapy with light-stimulating goggles showed a clinically meaningful increase in light sensitivity in six of 10 participants with advanced retinitis pigmentosa.
SBS says an upcoming episode of The Feed about falling fertility rates will feature George Mamalis, South Australian head of Turning Point Australia. Also appearing are content creator Elspeth McKellar and Steph Bastiaan of Women's Forum Australia, all close associates of anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe. SBS says the show invites creators with differing viewpoints and facilitates challenging conversations, and that it will be factchecked. Mamalis has described feminism as a death cult and has linked falling fertility rates to mass immigration.
Singapore has launched a government-funded dating app called FirstDate, exclusively for civil servants aged 21 to 35. The app uses a matching algorithm to provide one potential partner at a time, with government-funded 'date quests' for successful matches. Experts note the app reflects Singapore's focus on efficiency and verification in personal relationships, but are sceptical it will significantly boost declining marriage and fertility rates.
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A study found only 28 per cent of Australian and New Zealand women who froze their eggs for non-medical reasons used them within a decade. Elective egg freezing costs between $7,000 and $12,000 upfront, plus annual storage fees. Anna Parle, who froze her eggs at 37, spent about $30,000 to conceive her sons. Experts say the procedure offers no guarantee of parenthood and highlight the need for realistic expectations.
Brittany Hockley, 39, and her husband Ben Siegrist have announced they are expecting their first child after years of fertility challenges. The Life Uncut podcast host shared the joyful news on Instagram, accompanied by a video of the couple with their dog. Hockley revealed the pregnancy in a caption, expressing disbelief at the positive turn in their journey. The announcement was met with an outpouring of support from friends, including Laura Byrne, Holly Kingston, and Rebecca Gibney. This news follows Hockley's previous openness about her struggles with infertility and the emotional toll it has taken.
