Bob Birrell
Bob Birrell was Reader in Sociology and head of the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University until 2017. He was the joint-editor of the demographic journal People and Place over the years 1993 to 2010. He is currently the head of the demographic think tank, The Australian Population Research Institute (TAPRI).
Bob's recent articles
The Crisis in the Overseas Student Industry: How should Government respond?
The Australian Population Research Insitute, Research Report, June 2020.
BOB BIRRELL. Overseas Students. A labour market program?
As readers of Pearls and Irritations will be aware, Net Overseas Migration to Australia (NOM) in 2017-18 was 236,731. This is equivalent to 0.9 per cent of Australias population. NOM was the main source of Australias overall 1.6 per cent growth in 2017-18.
BOB BIRRELL AND KATHARINE BETTS. Australian universities' dependence on overseas students: too much of a good thing.
In November 2018 we published an analysis <http://tapri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Final-overseas-student-revisited.pdf> of the higher education overseas student industry. It was framed around the remarkable growth in the share of commencing overseas university students to all commencing students over the years 2012 to 2016. This share increased from 21.8 % in 2012 to 26.7 % in 2016.Since publication, higher education statistics for 2017 have been released. They show <http://tapri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Final-overseas-student-revisited.pdf> that the share of commencing overseas students to all commencing students have increased to 28.9 %. In the case of the Group of 8 (Go8) universities, by 2017 this share had reached well over 40...
BOB BIRRELL Australia's Skilled Migration Program is not delivering Scarce Skills
As vexations flowing from record high net overseas migration mount, supporters of the permanent entry program have had to dig deeper to defend it.These supporters include the Treasury and the Reserve Bank as well as business and property interests. They say that any major cut to the migration program would put in jeopardy Australias 26 years of unbroken nominal economic growth. The Treasury emphasises that Commonwealth taxation revenue would also diminish, putting further pressure on the budget deficit.
BOB BIRRELL and BOB KINNAIRD. Migration policy; All about numbers
The permanent skilled migration program should be cut by nearly half, from 128,000 (primary and secondary applicants) to around 70,000. This includes migrants granted visas under the points test and those sponsored by employers.