Vietnamese workers: why Australia's ageing population matters for your plans

News · 2026-09-25 · 3 min read

Are you thinking about working in Australia? Then you may hear many strong opinions about migration. Some people say there are too many migrants. Others say there are too few. This short guide explains, in simple words, what the latest Australian population forecasts show.

The big idea: the country is getting older

Australia's government publishes an Intergenerational Report. It looks far ahead, all the way to 2066. One clear message is that the population is ageing. There will be more retired people for each group of working people.

Experts measure this with the old-age dependency ratio. This is the number of retired people for every 100 working-age people. Today it is about 27. By 2066 it is projected to be between 38 and 43. The exact number depends on how many migrants arrive.

Do more migrants make life worse for everyone?

The forecasters compared two paths. One has 185,000 migrants a year. The other has 285,000. They found that the difference for the average person is very small. By 2066, GDP per capita changes by only around $400. That is tiny when output per person is around $150,000 a year.

The bigger difference is in the whole economy. With fewer migrants, national growth slows from roughly 1.6% to 1.3%. Under the low-migration path, government debt as a share of GDP was projected to rise by roughly 4.8 percentage points.

Why working-age migrants matter

Many migrants arrive when they are of working age. They work and pay tax. This helps to pay for pensions, healthcare and the NDIS, which is Australia's disability support scheme. Migration does not stop the country from ageing. But it makes the change easier to manage.

Another lever: productivity

Productivity means how much a worker can produce in an hour. The forecasters tested productivity growth between 0.8% and 1.6% of GDP. At the high end, income per person rises by tens of thousands of dollars. So skills and good work habits matter a lot.

What you can do now

Remember that rules change. Net migration targets are being wound down toward 225,000 by 2028. Always check the latest rules on the Department of Home Affairs website.
Build your skills. Vietnamese vocational certificates and degrees are usually assessed again in Australia, so ask early what the assessment needs.
Prepare your papers. A police certificate for Vietnamese citizens is usually the Judicial Record Certificate No. 2 (Phiếu lý lịch tư pháp số 2). Certified English translations of Vietnamese documents may also be needed. If a visa or employer asks for an English test, that means IELTS or PTE.
Stay safe. Deal only with licensed organisations and real employers. Never pay an unlicensed broker. Be careful with anyone who asks for money upfront to secure a job or a visa.

A hopeful message

Migration policy will keep changing with politics. But the ageing trend is steady, and the need for working-age people is not going away. Prepare step by step, and keep learning from official sources.

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