The total fertility rate in Australia dropped to 1.73 children per woman in 2001, the lowest level ever recorded, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Melbourne's Age reports. Australia's fertility rate peaked in 1961 at 3.55 children per woman and has been declining ever since, due in part to the widespread use of oral contraceptives (Colebatch, Age, 11/8). According to bureau statistics, Australia's fertility rate has been below 2.1 children per woman -- the level necessary to sustain the current population -- since 1976 (Brindal, Dow Jones International News, 11/6). According to a report released Friday by the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization, if Australia's current fertility and immigration rates continue, the country's population will level off in 2050 at approximately 25 million people. "I think most of the baby boom generation have an attitude that does not encourage more than two or three children," Reg Appleyard, a demographer at the University of West Australia, said. In addition to the low fertility rate, the average age of women who gave birth last year in Australia was 30, the highest average recorded so far (Ruse, West Australian, 11/8). The Australian government in recent years has introduced policies such as a "baby bonus" direct payment program that it hopes will boost the country's total fertility rate (Dow Jones International News, 11/6). Australian lawmakers are also considering a bill that would provide 14 weeks of paid maternity leave for all women (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 8/12). Despite the decline, Australia's fertility rate remains higher than rates in some other developed nations; the total fertility rate in the United States is 1.9 children per woman, and the rate in Japan is 1.3 children per woman (AP/Yahoo! News, 11/6).