Mihajla Gavin is a Senior Lecturer at UTS Business School specialising in employment relations and human resource management. She earned a Bachelor of Commerce (Liberal Studies) with First Class Honours and Doctor of Philosophy (Business) from the University of Sydney and is a recipient of the prestigious University Medal. Her PhD examined impacts of neoliberal education reform on teachers' working conditions and teacher union responses. She is also a former Senior Advisor at the Fair Work Ombudsman. 

Research Impact 

Mihajla’s research investigates fair and decent work in the changing world of work. She brings a strong interdisciplinary focus to her research with recent projects focused on teachers’ work, employee voice, and gender-based violence. She has over 50 publications across edited books, textbooks, journal articles and book chapters, including co-editor of the Research Handbook on Gender, Work and Employment Relations (Elgar) and Field Guide to Researching Employment and Industrial Relations (Elgar). Her work has appeared in leading journals in the fields of industrial relations, human resource management, and management such as British Journal of Industrial Relations, Work Employment and Society, Journal of Industrial Relations, Management Learning, Economic and Industrial Democracy, Journal of International Management, and Journal of Professions and Organization. Mihajla's research has had demonstrable impact via expert testimony, roundtables and submissions to government and independent inquiries, and partnerships with industry. In recognition of her engagement and impact, she was awarded UTS Business School's External Engagement Award.

Teaching Excellence

She teaches in the areas of industrial relations and human resource management. She is also co-author of one of Australia's leading and long-running textbooks on human resource management for tertiary business students, Wiley's Human Resource Management, which is used widely across universities in Australia and internationally. Her teaching excellence has been recognised through receiving multiple awards, including UTS Business School's Teaching and Learning Award and a Vice-Chancellor's Commendation for innovative teaching and fostering social impact. 

In 2022, she led the design, coordination and delivery of a new core subject in the Bachelor of Business - Business and Social Impact (21214). This subject explores how businesses can integrate social impact into the way they work and encourages students to develop their agency as future business leaders to build a stronger and fairer society. With Prof. Kathy Walsh, she developed an innovative approach of teaching social responsibility by integrating lived experiences of social disadvantage to increase student empathy and inspire action towards social change. She is the former Faculty Coordinator for the U@Uni Academy, which paves the way for underrepresented groups of students to study at university through alternate, non-ATAR entry to UTS.

Leadership and Service

•    Immediate Past President, Association of Industrial Relations Academics in Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ)
•    Treasurer, Industrial Relations Society of New South Wales (IRSNSW)
•    Co-Chair, UTS Business School Social Justice and Inclusion Committee
•    Program Coordinator, Human Resource Management Major in the Bachelor of Business

•    Co-Lead, UTS Domestic and Family Violence Research Network (UTSDFV Network)

•    Editorial Board, Journal of Industrial Relations 

Media and Invited Talks 

Mihajla’s research features regularly in major media including The Sydney Morning Herald, Seven News, The Conversation, ABC, The Australian, The Herald Sun, Women's Agenda, and 2SER radio, as well as practitioner-focused outlets including HRM Online, EducationHQ, and union journals. Selected recent media and presentations:

•    2026: Employers have a duty of care for domestic violence when working-from-home. But our laws are failing victims. Women's Agenda. 2 June. 

•    2026: You can't teach 'affective' empathy from a case study. Times Higher Education. 1 May.

•    2025: Invited Speaker, Domestic Violence NSW, Launch of Engaging Lived Experience and Expertise in Domestic Violence Policy Report, 14 October 2025.

•    2025: Invited Speaker, PSA/CPSU Women's Conference, 9 September 2025.

•    Domestic violence in the workplace: When the laws don’t work. The Interpreter, The Lowy Institute. 24 June 2025.

•    From Policy to Practice: DV in the Workplace. 2SER Think: Business Futures podcast. 23 April 2025.
•    Experts canvass reasons for low FDV leave uptake. Workplace Express. 10 February 2025.
•    Business partnerships tackling real-world problems for social impact. UTS LX. 16 January 2025.

•    2024: Invited Speaker, Sveriges Larare, (Swedish Teachers' Union), 26 August 2024.

•    2024: Invited Keynote, Ku-ring-gai Council International Women's Day Forum, 6 March 2024. 

•    'Double-edged sword': more technology not the solution to teacher workload crisis. EducationHQ. 26 September 2024. 
•    How effective are domestic violence advertising campaigns for preventing violence against women? The Conversation. 3 May 2024.
•    Tackle teachers’ workloads but leave lesson planning to the experts. The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 February 2024.
•    Will a four-day school week make teachers’ workload better or worse? Education Daily. 10 January 2024.
•    Workplace support for DV victims slow in coming. The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 January 2023.
•    Teachers sick of 'pointless' admin work, NSW inquiry hears. The Herald Sun. 16 August 2022.
•    ‘This is like banging our heads against the wall’: why a move to outsource lesson planning has NSW teachers hopping mad. The Conversation. 5 August 2022.

•    2022: Expert Witness, NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Teacher Shortages in New South Wales, 16 August 2022. 

•    2022: Invited Chair, Schools Funding Conference, Centre for Public Education Research, 18 February 2022.