Looking for love in Australia? Book lays out the odds

By Pauline Askin

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - There's a "man drought" on the Australian coast and a "man dam" in the remote Bush, and if you're a woman in your 80s and looking for love, the odds aren't really in your favor, according to author Bernard Salt.

Demographer Salt's book, "Man Drought" which was released this week, reveals that love is really where you look for it in Australia, and that it pays to go the distance.

"In the old days, we believed Mr or Mrs Right would show up someday, but as we remain single for much longer, and are far more mobile, the chances are more remote," Salt told Reuters.

"You need to get out and broaden your circles," he advises.

From a country that was flush with men some 30 years ago, due to immigration policies that favored males, today's Australian women have it harder than their "baby boomer" sisters.

According to the latest statistics bureau data, there were 96,900 more females than males in Australia as of June 2005.

Salt said the main reason for the man shortage, especially in Australia's coastal cities, was the abundance of women who move from the interior seeking better jobs and lifestyles.

"Single men are concentrated in rural and remote communities whereas single women prefer the city and lifestyle towns," Salt explained. "A generation ago, women were more likely to remain in rural communities."

A Queensland outback mayor made international headlines this month when he called for female "ugly ducklings" to move to the remote mine town of Mt Isa if they were desperate to meet a man.

GIVING CUPID A HAND

According to the statistics bureau, the proportion of singles among Australia's 21 million population is rising from 20 percent to 25 percent in only a decade.

Singles households are expected to rise from 1.8 million in 2001 to more than 3 million in 2026, when the population will hit 24 million.

Salt advises those serious about finding a partner to consider shifting home.

"There are man dams, little isolated reservoirs of men in suburbs across Australia where, for some odd reason, there are more single men than single women and you find a lot of them in rural communities," he said.

"If you find yourself in the wrong town then why not relocate to the right town where you are in the market."