Prof Nicole Haley

Professor Nicole Haley is an academic leader and scholar with 30 years research experience and 14 years leadership and management experience. Located in the Department of Pacific Affairs (DPA) she leads and manages the Pacific Research Program (PRP): a DPA-led consortium also comprising the ANU Development Policy Centre and the Lowy Institute. The PRP is a major research and education investment funded in partnership by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the ANU.  Professor Haley joined DPA, then the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia (SSGM) Program, as a post-doctoral fellow in January 2006 and served as its head from October 2008 to March 2021, transforming the program from a bespoke research unit comprising five academics into a vibrant, fully integrated, university department (with 30 salaried staff and 25 PhD students) and leading international centre for applied multidisciplinary research and analysis concerning Melanesia and the Pacific.

A leading authority on Papua New Guinea and Elections in Melanesia, Professor Haley’s ethnographic research has yielded 90 discreet research outputs including two co-edited books: Conflict and Resource Development in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea (2007) and Election 2007: The Shift to Limited Preferential Voting in Papua New Guinea (2013), a series of country specific election observation handbooks, 25 peer-reviewed academic papers, seven major published reports, 13 peer-reviewed In-Briefs, targeted to a policy audience and 30+ commissioned research reports. Highly regarded for her policy advice, research and analysis, Professor Haley has worked extensively with development partners in various advisory and consultative capacities and has demonstrated substantial influence in the areas of women’s empowerment and women’s political participation, election monitoring and electoral reform, contributing to five major aid program designs and three major program evaluations.

Career highlights

2021   Career to date research income awarded - $87 million

2020   Finalist, Clare Burton Award for Excellence in Equity and Diversity

2014   ANU Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Public Policy and Outreach

2003   G.J. Crawford Prize, ANU’s premier prize for Academic Excellence

          Awarded to the best PhD Thesis in the Humanities/Social Sciences.

2000   Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation: Steps for Reconciliation Award

2000   National Adult Learners Week: Reconciliation Learning Program Award

1994   Australian Postgraduate Research Award (APRA)

BA (UQ), BA(Hons) (Macquarie University), PhD (ANU)

Political Anthropology; Elections & Electoral Politics in the Pacific; Social Identity & Land Politics; Women’s Leadership & Political Participation; Conflict & Armed Violence; and the Politics of Service Delivery.