Where do international students live?

In May 2020 I published a blog that discussed the impact of COVID-19 on population growth and change in Australia. I argued that the biggest impact would be on the volume of net overseas migration (NOM), but the scale of the impact would depend on how long travel restrictions and the border closure were enforced. Two months later this still rings true. The recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Victoria just shows how precarious the situation is, with restrictions likely to remain in place for some time. This blog progresses the themes I presented in the previous blog, but looks specifically at international students and their contribution to population growth and change in Sydney and Melbourne. 

How language data can inform public health policy

The recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Melbourne has highlighted the need for good data at a local level for planning the response effort. It has been reported that people from non-English speaking backgrounds (CALD communities) may not be receiving key messages about social distancing and other methods to slow the spread of the virus. The Census collects information on language spoken at home and the level of English proficiency. Using these variables, this blog shows how Census data provides the evidence base to inform responses at the local level.