The issue of environmental degradation was important in the Murray-Basin Basin (MDB) during the Millennium Drought period (2001-2009). It raises a question on the issue of population dynamics. Thus, understanding why people move within and outside of the MDB is fundamental to many of the key policy questions that arise in the debates on MDB policies and water futures. This project examines the relationship between migration activity not only with socio-economic conditions, but also with a particular focus on the environmental aspect that has never done in the literature on the MDB. Moreover, the study also contributes to the global migration studies, where environmental factor has been increasingly regarded as one key determinants of migration.

In order to examine migration in the MDB, the study develops the dataset from three different sources to capture migration data, socio-economic and environmental factors. The spatial unit of the dataset is based on Local Government Area (LGA) level with the latest geographic boundaries as described in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2011. First, as the key dependent variable, the migration data is obtained by utilising the 2011 Census of Population and Housing. From the question about Place of Usual Residence (PUR) of one year mobility and five year mobility, the study can create people mobility of out-migration, in-migration, and net migration. Moreover, migration data can also be classified by age group, in order to examine young migration activity.

Second, in order to develop parameters of socio-economic factors, the study applies the latest National Regional Profile (NRP) of 2007-2011, a standard dataset from the Australian Bureau Statistics (ABS). Third, following the key literature of environmental migration studies, this paper uses rainfall data as an instrument of the analysis of the environmental factor. The rainfall data is obtained from the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) Australia, and the methodology is to construct the rainfall data based on the selection of reliable weather observations.

Based on empirical estimation, the study confirms the relationship between migration and socio-economic factors, particularly among the young-age workers. The study also finds that the intensity of rainfall has an association with business activity, and thus has an impact on the decision to migrate.