I work with communities, government and service providers to re-design and transform human service systems in real time.
hey There!
I’m passionate about changing the systems that hold problems in place. I work in the gaps, connecting up research, policy and practice. For me, ‘applied’ social policy can create real change when it draws on research and practice; is grounded in community, and recasts relationships of power.
I’m a Principal Research Fellow at the Social Policy and Research Centre, Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL).
I lead the Youth Opportunity team that conducts research, applied social policy, and evaluation in the areas of employment, education, place-based approaches and homelessness. I also teach in the Masters of Social Policy at the University of Melbourne and was the the inaugural Applied Sociology portfolio leader on The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) executive.
I was awarded my PhD in sociology from Flinders University in 2005. Since then I’ve worked in academia, research institutes, and not-for-profit organisations. I’ve been at the BSL since 2011. Before that, I was a Research Fellow at the Australian Drug Foundation and a Senior Researcher at the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders University.
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Over 15 years research experience covering youth studies, public health, alcohol and other drugs, employment, and homelessness.
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Qualitative, ethnography, thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics, longitudinal quantitative research design. Literature reviews, comparative policy analysis. Systems change methodologies, codesign workshops, communities of practice, system mapping, pathway analysis.
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Long form report writing, concise briefings, narrative powerpoints that compel and call to action.