Birch's maternal great-grandfather was an Afghan who migrated to Australia in 1890, who had to get exemption from the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 to take his wife home to meet the family.
He also has Barbadian convict (James "Prince" Moodie, transported to Tasmania for 14 years for "disobedience") and Aboriginal heritage.
He was the first Aboriginal student to graduate with a degree in History from the University of Melbourne, and the first to receive an MA in Creative Writing.
Birch has appeared on ABC radio on shows such as Conversations with Richard Fidler,[2] Life Matters[3] and RN Afternoons.
[1] His work involves academic research, creative writing projects, student mentoring, lecturing and community engagement.