Dr Bob Birrell
- Tel: +61 3 990 52967
- Fax: +61 3 990 52993
- Email: Bob.Birrell@arts.monash.edu.au
- Room W10.21 10th Floor
- Building 11 (Menzies) Clayton Campus
Bob Birrell is Reader in Sociology at Monash University. He is joint editor (with Katharine Betts) of the quarterly demographic journal People and Place, published by CPUR.
Biography
Bob has a degree in economics from Melbourne University, in history from University of London (first class honours) and a PhD in Sociology from Princeton University. Most of his academic work has been at Monash University and since 1991 this work has focussed on running the CPUR. He has acted as an advisor on immigration issues to both Labor and Coalition governments and was a member of the Commonwealth Government’s National Population Council from 1987–1993. Recently he was a member of the independent Review of the General Skilled Migration Program which reported in May 2006.Publications
Bob is joint editor (with Katharine Betts ) of the quarterly demographic journal People and Place, published by CPUR. A selection of his other publications is noted in the following research listing and in the CPUR publication list.
Research
Bob’s research interests range across Australia’s past and present evolution as a nation, including the current challenges of globalisation and the integration of Australia’s ethnic minorities. The historical dimension is explored in Federation: the secret story (Duffy and Snellgrove, 2000). Various aspects of current dilemmas flowing from Australia’s immigration program are examined in ‘Labor’s shrinking constituency’ (with Ernest Healy) in People and Place vol. 13, no. 2, June 2005, ‘Birthplace: the new political divide’, People and Place, vol. 10, no. 4, December 2002 and ‘Metropolis divided: The political dynamic of spatial inequality and migrant settlement in Sydney’, (with Ernest Healy) in People and Place vol. 11, no. 2, June 2003.
The CPUR maintains an extensive database on overseas migration movements and regularly reports on the implications of these movements for the size and skill contribution to Australia’s workforce. The latest of such reports is Australia’s net gains from international skilled movement (DIAC, 2006).
Australia’s changing family and fertility situation is explored in A not so perfect match: the growing male/female divide 1986–1996 (CPUR 1998) and Men and women apart: partnering in Australia (Australian Family Association, 2004), both with Virginia Rapson.
Urban planning issues stemming from rapid population growth are covered in Melbourne 2030: planning rhetoric versus urban reality (with Kevin O’Connor, Virginia Rapson and Ernest Healy, Monash University epress, 2005). A recent analysis of the relationship between job dispersal and public transport in Melbourne, which combined CPUR and Pathfinder Solutions expertise was published in September 2009. This report is titled: ‘Making public transport work in Melbourne’, with David McCloskey and Rose Yip, People and Place, September 2009.
The linkages between population change, domestic training (particularly at the tertiary level), immigration and labour market outcomes have been explored in studies of doctors, accountants, engineers and other occupations. Bob’s 2006 review (with Virginia Rapson) of Australia’s higher education training record Clearing the myths away: higher education output and workforce demand (Dusseldorp Skills Forum) summarises some of this work. The paper ‘Implications of low English standards among overseas students at Australian universities’ (People and Place, December 2006) explored the impact of overseas student enrolments on the quality of university training in Australia.
Developments in the overseas student market have been examined in a number of recent artcles. They include ‘Cooks galore and hairdressers aplenty’ (with Ernest Healy and Bob Kinnaird, People and Place, March 2007), ‘The cooking–immigration nexus’ (with Ernest Healy and Bob Kinnaird, People and Place, March 2009) and ‘Immigration policy change and the international student industry (with Bronwen Perry) in People and Place, June 2009.
Consulting
Bob is involved in most of CPURs consulting activities. These activities have resulted in a wide range of reports on demographics, labour market, educational and other social issues, most of which are available to the public. See publications page for availability.