With great sadness, I have learned that Australia’s most distinguished demographer, Graeme Hugo, has passed away after a short illness.

I have been privileged to work with Graeme over the years and especially while developing the National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia. Graeme has made exceptional contributions to our understanding of international migration and the effects of migration policy, and he was well-known for his deep caring about the well-being of migrants, particularly of the most vulnerable.  He will be deeply missed as a friend and colleague, and celebrated for the remarkable legacy he leaves.

Graeme Hugo was an ARC Australian Professorial Fellow, Professor of Geography and Director of the Australian Population and Migration Research Centre at the University of Adelaide. He has brought enormous contributions and progressive thinking to the field of international migration as the author of over three hundred books, articles in scholarly journals and chapters in books, as well as a large number of conference papers and reports. He was Chair of the Advisory Committee on Demography and Liveability of the Commonwealth Department of Sustainable Environment, Water, Population and Communities and was appointed to the National Housing Supply Council in 2011.  In 2012 he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to population research, particularly the study of international migration, population geography and mobility, and through leadership roles with national and international organizations.