• The Australian Bureau of Statistics release figures on birth and fertility rates
• The birth rate has dropped to its lowest since 2006
• Charles Sturt’s Graduate Diploma of Midwifery enrolments have increased by 63 per cent from 2020 to 2024

The national birth rate has dropped to its lowest since 2006 but enrolments for Charles Sturt University’s midwifery course has reached an all-time high.

Charles Sturt midwifery academics said the enrolment trend indicates a strong desire for midwives to train and stay and work in regional areas.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released its figures about birth and fertility rates for Australia recently.

There were 286,998 registered births in 2023, a decrease of 4.6 per cent from 2022 and the lowest birth rate since 2006. The fertility rate was 1.5 births per woman and 2.17 births per First Nations woman.

NSW had the highest numbers of births with 90,000 while the Northern Territory recorded the least with 3,282. Western Australia and Tasmania were the only states or territories that recorded an increased number of births from 2022 to 2023.

Head of Midwifery in Charles Sturt’s School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences Ms Alicia Carey and Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Science and Health Professor Julian Grant said these figures are not likely to remain like this for long.

Ms Carey said the cost of living is certainly influencing people’s decision to have children and while she is not sure what the birth rate will do in coming years, she believes the childbearing age group will likely increase.

Professor Grant said other reasons affecting the number include climate change, fears from international conflicts, the housing crisis and cost of higher education.

She believes the birth rate could continue to fall if there are not ‘significant fiscal changes’ nationally and internationally.

Enrolments for Charles Sturt’s Graduate Diploma of Midwifery have increased by 63 per cent from 2020 to 2024.

Ms Carey said the new curriculum (2024 to 2028) increased student capacity from 100 to 240 students while also increasing the University’s midwifery academic team.

The result is hospitals taking more student midwives and women and pregnant people are able to remain in local towns instead of having to travel to larger regional towns to give birth.

“Charles Sturt’s Graduate Diploma of Midwifery has a long-standing history of providing excellent education and graduate-ready midwives in a collaborative employment model,” she said.

“We have students in small rural maternity services, which allows maternity services to ‘grow their own’, which means local people stay in jobs and smaller sites can continue to provide maternity services rather than being closed due to lack of registered midwives.”

Professor Grant said that many mature age students with families prefer to be educated in the regions where they live and work. The competition for midwifery enrolments is also high, with Professor Grant saying that this may lead to metro residents putting regional universities as a viable first choice.  

With a 63 per cent increase in midwifery enrollments, Professor Grant said, “Charles Sturt is clearly an excellent first choice.”