Research from the Regional Australia Institute shows migrants made up 46.2 per cent of growth in 2025, with the largest cohort arriving in areas outside the nation's capital cities being people aged between 25 and 44.
The institute is calling for increased regional migration pathways to be placed at the centre of the nation's population planning in a bid to address skills shortages, and support new economic activity.
Regional Australia received just over 17 per cent of overseas migrants in the 2024/25 financial year, well below its 36 per cent share of the national population.
Under current policy settings, 28 per cent of Australia's population growth is projected to go to the regions, according to the institute.
But it argues its modelling shows that figure could reach as high as 72 per cent under a "nation-building approach" that prioritises the regions as a primary destination for population growth.
Regional Australia Institute chief executive Liz Ritchie said it was very easy to politicise migrants and blame them for housing shortages and other societal issues.
"What we really need to be doing and what we should be thinking more broadly about is holding our decision makers accountable for not adequately planning," she told AAP.
"We've had three federal inquiries that have looked at population in this country in the last decade, and all three have recommended that we need a national population and settlement plan, and yet we still don't have one."
Ms Ritchie said it was high time Australia re-imagined itself and prioritised regional Australia.
Rural Northwest Health's Executive Manager of People and Culture Glenn Hynes said if Australia's migrant intake were to be cut, it would have a "dramatic impact".
"We wouldn't be able to operate as effectively as we do without our international staff coming on board ... they bring in a raft of new ideas, new experiences, and that again just complements the way we provide services," he said.
"We just simply don't have the the population or the skills available at any given time locally, so we rely heavily on migrated staff.
Binsu Kuriakose, a registered nurse at Rural Northwest Health, migrated from India in 2024 to regional Victoria.
"It's a nice, calm, quiet place," she said.
"I wanted to learn from a different country and culture. Initially it was difficult, but I've grown both personally and professionally."
