I am a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the Centre for Social Research and Methods and hold an Honorary position at the ANU School of Philosophy. I originally trained in normative political philosophy, and my research is at the intersection of political theory and social policy. I am centrally interested in the justifications for and effects of welfare reform especially behavioural conditionality. I am at the forefront internationally of the application of trauma-theory to the delivery of social security to better understand barriers experienced by people with complex needs. From 2024-2018 I held an Australian Research Council DECRA which focused on the relationship between Indigenous development and the welfare state, and contributed to international theorising on non-market economic development.

I served as editor-in-chief of the Australian Journal of Social Issues from 2019 to 2024. I am a member of the international advisory board of the Journal of Social Policy, a member of the executive of the Australian Social Policy Association, a member of the Social Security Research Policy and Practice Network, and part of the International Trauma-Informed Care Network.

BA (Hons) University of Queensland, MA (Distinction) University of Manchester, PhD ANU

Welfare conditionality and income management; welfare stigma; employment services; trauma-informed social services; behavioural public policy; paternalism; philosophy of punishment; ethics of marketization and commodification.