Regional push as Australia's population hits 25 million

Australia's population was due to hit 25 million today, renewing debate about overcrowding and infrastructure pressures in major cities as the government explores ways to encourage migrants into regional areas.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics projects that the population is growing by one person every 83 seconds and is due to reach the milestone figure at 1300 GMT.

It will mark a doubling of the number of people since 1970 who call Australia home.

The population rose by 388,000 last year and about 60 percent of this was due to immigration by people with special skills or family visas.

Despite Australia's huge size, about 90 percent of new arrivals settle in Melbourne and Sydney, the government said, prompting a fresh debate on its approach to migration as cities fill up.

"There are some areas that are feeling population pressures but there's other regions in Australia that are actually crying out for more people," Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge told broadcaster ABC.

"We need a better distribution of migration across Australia because nearly all the migration is going to Melbourne and Sydney at the moment."