A graduate from the Australian National University, Canberra, Doug Limbrick worked for many years in social policy development, advice and evaluation. Authored many papers, reports, monographs and journal articles on social policy issues in areas such as poverty, disadvantage, housing and homelessness including international comparisons. Over the last 20 years has focused particularly on nineteenth-century Australian history with an emphasis on emigration to the colonies, including exploration of the reasons why people emigrated, the impact of the emigration process, the passage to the colonies, the ships and the arrival process.