Dharma is social demographer cum sociologist in the School of Social Sciences. He received his PhD in Demography from the Australian National University and was a Rockefeller Postdoctoral Fellow at the Population Studies Centre, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA). Before joining Monash University, he taught at the Department of Societies and Cultures, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Dharma's research focuses on: international migration, integration, identity, social cohesion, fertility and partnering, family and household structures, population research, ageing and health. Dharma's research also covers population issues in India.

Trained as a quantitative researcher, Dharma combines qualitative and quantitative approaches in his research. He uses secondary and primary survey data, census data and publicly available texual data. He research collaboration includes scholars with specialisation in data science, political science, economics, anthropology, and psychology.

Dharma’s recent publications include:  two co-authored monographs, Identity and Belonging among Chinese Australians (Springer, 2023), and Rethinking Refugee-Host Relations: Cultural Proximity and Historical Links (Routledge 2026); and two co-edited volumes Creating Social Cohesion in an Interdependent World: Experiences of Australia and Japan (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) and Family Formation in 21^st Century Australia (Springer, 2015). He has also co-authored the monograph The New Zealand Family From 1840. A Demographic History (Auckland University Press, 2007).

His current research covers international migration, diasporas, Indian migrants in Australia, intermarriage, cultural diversity and identity, and social cohesion in Australia.

Dharma has supervised a number of Masters and PhD students to successful completions in three broad areas of research:

1)      Immigration, identity, and migrant integration:

• Social Capital in Australia
• Young Australians perception of their national identities
• Ethnic identity among young Australian women of Greek heritage
• Second-generation Turkish Australian Muslim women
• Cultural Integration of Academic Migrants
• Attitudes toward Australian Muslims
• (Un)wanted people in Hong Kong
• Internal Migration in Maldives
• Indentity negotiations of Pakistani transnational brides in Britain and Canada
• Identity and Belonging of Chinese Australians
• Refugee-Host relations in Uganda
• Intermarriage among Jewish Australians

2)      Population dynamics;

• Australian fertility debate
• Fertility Differentials in Australia
• Family Formation and Contraception in New Zealand
• Population in Environment debates in Australia;
• Adolescent Fertility in Malawi
• The social context of Lamaholots' fertility desires
• Irish female convict marriages in 19th century Van Diemen's land

3)      Reproductive and child health

• Children’s Diet and Level of Physical Activity
• Child Malnutrition in Nepal
• Utilization of Child Health Services in Bangladesh
• Women's Autonomy and Reproductive Health in Bangladesh
• (Mal)Nutrition among Children in India
• Young women’s reproductive health in India

4)      Other

• Incomes of Individuals and Families in New Zealand
• Marginalized seniors - A study of older 'homeless' persons in Singapore
• Moving from path dependence to sustainable agriculture in northern Phillipines
• Socio-economic inequality and self-reported life satisfaction in Australia
• Water sensitive practices and social inequality in Australia
• Lives, Livelihoods and Aspirations of the Kolis in Mumbai
• Smart city governance and urban safety in urban India
• Social protection and vulnerability among older people in Bangladesh

Current student theses’ focus on:

• Multiculturalisam and social cohesion in Australia
• Idenity construction among Iranian Australians
• Socio-economic dimensions of child malnutrition in India
• Gendered labour and small-scale fisheries in India
• Political economy of universal health in India

• Immigration
• Identity and integration
• Social cohesion and inclusion
• Cultural diversity and social inequality
• Intermarriage
• Child malnutrition and health
• Fertility behaviour
• Family formation
• Population dynamics

• Immigration
• Identity and integration
• Social cohesion and inclusion
• Cultural diversity and social inequality
• Intermarriage
• Reproductive health
• Child malnutrition and health
• Fertility behaviour
• Family formation
• Population dynamics

• Social research methods
• Population and Society