The federal government has said it will not rush its strategy on population following Labor's about-face on the issue under new Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Ms Gillard said on Sunday she did not believe in a big Australia and warned against hurtling towards a massive population in the future.
Her view is in contrast to that of her predecessor Kevin Rudd.
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Population Minister Tony Burke's portfolio has been rebadged to that of the minister for sustainable population.
Mr Burke, the first ever population minister, said the shift in thinking would change the government's starting point in community consultation.
The portfolio, only in existence since April, would continue developing a strategy to deal with future population growth, he said.
"There's no work that I've done that needs to be undone," Mr Burke told ABC Television on Monday.
"But certainly the community consultation that happens will have a very different framework in terms of what's the government's position."
Entrepreneur Dick Smith, a vocal critic of a big Australia, on Sunday welcomed the government's shift on future population.
"He (Dick Smith) had a view that the government was pretty much hell bent on higher population in a very aggressive way no matter what," Mr Burke said.
"That is not the starting point from the government."
Earlier this month, the government appointed three panels on population growth to develop an issues paper.
A population strategy would be released early next year, Mr Burke said.
"We're not going to rush that timeframe but what we are making clear is the perspective and the starting point of the government as we work towards that strategy is different to what had been described some months ago," he said.
Regional differences remained a critical issue in the debate, with some areas lacking skilled labour and others unable to cope with more population.
"But we now have the clearest statement we've ever had from an Australian prime minister that there are parts of Australia where if you said to people we were going to put more people there, the question would be raised very quickly, 'Well, where on earth would you do that'," Mr Burke said.
"We've got housing supply shortages, we've got some real challenges in getting available public transport and that difference does change the whole dynamic in this debate."
Future population required better coordination, Mr Burke said.
"This is an area where people in their conversations whether it be boardrooms or barbecues have always said why don't you coordinate these issues?
"Because it is often an immigration debate, it is much broader than that, urban planning, major transport and infrastructure ...," he said.
