Who is working from home?

Working from home became de rigueur for many people in 2020. Travel restrictions and social distancing on account of a contagious virus meant that there was a large increase in the number of people setting up workplaces in their spare room on the kitchen bench. But not all jobs can be done from the comfort of your spare room, so what are the characteristics of the working from home population? What insights can be gained from the available data?

The importance of good boundaries

It's hard to think of a time in the recent past when people have been so interested in geography. Coronavirus restrictions have changed that. Here in Melbourne, travel and administrative restrictions have reduced the size of our worlds to a 5km radius. Many people are querying the geographic definition of metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. It's great to see so much interest in geography, even if it has resulted from such a devastating pandemic. This blog will look at why good geographic boundaries are important by looking at some of the quirkier aspects of spatial units.

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.