Disability Research Network

ARC DECRA Research Fellow 2025-7

Theme Lead of the UTS Ageing Research Collaborative (Design and Innovation)

Academic Lead of the UTS Disability Research Network

Phillippa Carnemolla is a Professor in the School of Built Environment within the Faculty of Design Architecture and Building. She is passionate about research that investigates the influence of our built environments on people's independence, autonomy and how care is provided and received. She focuses on promoting community-led research and innovation in housing, workplaces, residential aged care, specialist disability accommodation and inclusive cities across aged care and disability support contexts. 

Phillippa leads work commissioned by the National Disability Insurance Agency, state government agencies and departments across NSW, Tasmania and Victoria, The Big Issue and service providers of disability support and aged care. She has held a number of national board and advisory positions with organisations, including the Centre for Universal Design Australia, the City of Sydney, the Greater Cities Commission and NSW Department of Planning. In recognition of her research excellence in housing and care provision, she is a Uniting Research Fellow, Honorary Associate Professor at Edith Cowan University and a finalist in the AFR Tertiary Education Awards (2022).

International Recognition
Her transdisciplinary research is recognised globally, with many international governments and agencies citing her work as evidence for policy innovation and reform across housing and care. The US Senate has tabled her research as part of a 2022 hearing before the committee on addressing the housing needs of American seniors. The World Health Organisation (UNICEF) cites her investigations into the breadth of health, care and social impacts resulting from inclusive design approaches (2022). The UK Government Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities cites her review on housing and homelessness in their report, testing innovative approaches to improving outcomes for people experiencing homelessness (2023). Closer to home, her research into models of aged care is cited in the 2023 National Aged Care Design Principles and Guidelines.

Community-led research
Phillippa oversees projects in housing, aged care, and disability, fostering collaborations among a wide array of stakeholders, including Australia’s leading housing and disability support/aged care providers (Uniting, Achieve Australia, and Northcott). She is recognised within academic, industry and community sectors for her exemplary community-centred approach, having led diverse research teams that prioritise the inclusion of people with disability as project leaders, researchers, strategists, and analysts. Her leadership of the ‘My Home My Community project’ was recently referenced in the UTS application to the Australian Elective Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. The case study included in the application highlighted Assoc. Prof Carnemolla’s leadership in designing and delivering engaged research and practice. Of significant value was her ability to guide a diverse team of researchers, including people with intellectual disability. By embedding diversity and inclusion at the heart of the project, the research effectively demonstrated the integration of diverse forms of knowledge – including disciplinary, contextual, and lived experience – to further the field. This contribution, complemented by other institutional examples of engaged scholarship, resulted in UTS being awarded the Classification in 2023. This was a significant achievement, with UTS being one of the only two institutions receiving the Classification nationally.

Specialist Disability Accommodation Research 2023
In 2023 she lead the analysis of exclusive Australian national housing data on the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s (NDIS) Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) housing stock. Bringing together a national team of housing and disability academics and experts, including people with disability, the team developed inclusive data translations for people with sensory disability (blind and visually impaired) and intellectual disability for the state-based data being analysed.

Professor Simon Darcy believes passionately in the rights of all people to fully participate in community life. A Professor in Management in the Enterprise, Innovation and Impact discipline at UTS Business School, he specialises in developing inclusive organisational approaches for marginalized groups, including people with disability. Simon’s work has spanned transport, tourism, employment, entrepreneurship, the built environment, sport, events, volunteers, and disability services. It is characterised by an evidence-based approach to changing practice in the business, government and not-for-profit sectors.

He has been awarded Australian Research Council grants involving volunteer management, disability entrepreneurship and improving sport legacy for marginalized groups. Together with his involvement in the CRC for Sustainable Tourism, other major grants involving national and international organisations he seeks to bring an evidence-base to change practice and policy for improved social participation and citizenship. Some of the major areas of impact includes contributing significantly to the understanding of the business case for accessible tourism nationally and internationally through the UN World Tourism Organization and, with Professor Jock Collins, undertaking research that has illuminated entrepreneurship among people with disability – informing development of the IgniteAbility startup program and ongoing work as a mentor with Remarkable.

Simon is currently working on a number of projects related to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Australian Disability Strategy 2021-31, disability citizenship and person-centred approaches. Internationally, he is involved in research on the management of volunteers at the Olympics and Paralympics, understanding legacy outcomes of major events, and the importance of accessibility for the sustainability and liveability of cities. Connected to all this work is how disability relates to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

To all this work, Simon brings an insider's perspective to working with marginalized groups as someone with lived experience of disability where he has experienced a pre-disability world and then as somebody who traumatically acquired his disability he has had to navigate the very different discriminatory ableist world from a disability perspective. He became the first complete quadriplegic to be a professor in Australia.

Simon also has a long history of involvement in advocacy and on volunteer boards, and of involvement with the disability community as a person with traumatically acquired disability. He has been a power wheelchair user since 1983. Simon was a member of the Disability Council of NSW (2011-2015) and actively involved in development of the NSW Disability Inclusion Act 2014. He has held a variety of board positions, was the Vice-President of the Association of Consultants in Access Australia, and is/has been an advisor to the Commonwealth and New South Wales Government on disability services, employment/entrepreneurship, transport and tourism.

Simon’s outstanding contribution to research, engagement and collaboration in accessible tourism was recognised with the World Leisure Organisation’s 2010 Innovation Prize for the Sydney For All project with Destination NSW and Easy Access Australia. He received the 2009 Vision Australia Making a Difference Award for this work. In 2017 he was invited to present the Richard Jones Oration for the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commission examining issues of transport, travel, sport and tourism as it relates to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2015 and 2021 Simon collaborated with UN World Tourism Organization on the development of publications outlining the field of accessible tourism and industry best practice.

In 2021, 2022 & 2023 Stanford University/Elsevier BV Simon was named in the top 1% of scientists worldwide for citation metrics. This included in the Business & Management subfield of Sports, Leisure & Tourism (82); Rehabilitation (86); and Economics & Business (7065). (See Baas, Jeroen; Boyack, Kevin; Ioannidis, John P.A. (2021; 2022; 2023),

Simon was a recipient of the UTS Vice Chancellor’s Human Rights Award and the inaugural UTS human rights social media award. He also received the 2018 and 2023 Distinguished Research Scholars Award from the UTS Business School. In 2024 Simon received the UTS Chancellor's Medal for Sustained Research Excellence for work on the social participation of marginalised groups, disability citizenship and developing transformative solutions to discriminatory practices.

Simon has been recognised for his contribution to the disability community through being an Australia Day Ambassador and an Ambassador for the Don’t Dis My Ability campaign, He was nominated and awarded as highly commended for the 2020 National Aspire Awards in both the Government/University and Human Rights categories. From 2021-2024 Simon has been an Ambassador for the IncludeAbility Employment Program of the Australian Human Rights Commission working with 17 of Australia's largest employers.

Simon's research has been published in leading international journals, including the Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, Journal of Sport Management, Sport Management Review, Voluntas, European Sports Management Quarterly, Event Management, Disability & Society, Disability Studies Quarterly, and Disability & Rehabilitation. Simon is also author or co-author or editor of 10 books, including Managing the Paralympics (2017), The Dis/ABLED Tourist: Navigating an Ableist Tourism World (2024), Accessibility in Sport Management: An International Venue Perspective (2025), and forthcoming The Paradox of Minority Entrepreneurship: Australian Insights, Global Implications (2027).

In 2026 Simon was recognised for his outstanding contributions to higher education, and accessible and inclusive environments in the Australian Honours list as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

Deborah is an Honorary Associate Professor in Public Health at UTS. 

Deborah has teaching, clinical, research and administrative experience. Deborah's academic qualifications, coupled with nursing experience in metropolitan, rural and remote acute health care settings provide her with research expertise as well as a first-hand understanding of clinical settings. Deborah has had considerable experience with quality improvement projects in both teaching and research roles. Deborah has research experience across a diverse range of areas including investigation of: service provision for young people with mental health and intellectual disabilities; consumer engagement; health services accreditation; medication administration; nursing leadership; quality improvement initiatives in healthcare (e.g. central line bundles, structured handover process, electronic medication management systems); teaching medical students about smoking cessation; and teaching medical students about patient safety. She also has experience as a clinical trials coordinator in a hospital based drug trial. Deborah is an internationally recognised expert on the use of workarounds healthcare. Identification of workarounds is pivotal to illuminating gaps between how work is imagined to be done (work-as-imagined) and how it is actually done (work-as-done). Understanding these gaps is fundamental to effective implementation of strategies to improve quality and safety of service delivery.

In this honorary role, Deborah supports the continuation of active research, supervision and teaching contributions at UTS. This includes supervision of Higher Degree by Research students as a primary and co‑supervisor, remaining as an active Chief Investigator on externally and internally funded UTS research projects, contributing to study design, governance, data interpretation, publications and grant reporting. Deborah also contributes to teaching through guest lectures and research‑informed learning activities as required, particularly in areas of health services management, patient safety, quality improvement, implementation science, Indigenous health, and co‑design.

Professor Bronwyn Hemsley is Head of Speech Pathology at UTS and co-lead of the UTS Disability Research Network

Winner - 2023 The Sax Institute Research Action Award

Winner - 2023 UTS Vice Chancellor's UTS Medal for Research Impact

Bronwyn is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist, Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia, and Fellow of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. With 15 years postdoctoral experience Bronwyn has been awarded more than $5M in research funding enabling development of a comprehensive program of research relating to communication, swallowing, social media, and other advanced assistive technologies (including VR/AR, generative AI, apps for communication, 3D food printing). 

Bronwyn was the lead investigator and project lead for the 'UTS Co-Creating Safe and Enjoyable Meals' project funded by the NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission and the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness, and Housing (2020-2022) which can be viewed at www.enjoysafemeals.com She is the course director for the UTS Open Short Course 'Co-Creating Safe and Enjoyable Meals for People with Swallowing Disability.'

Bronwyn has completed an NHMRC PhD Scholarship 2005-2007, NHMRC Postdoctoral Fellowship to the Communication Disability Centre at the University of Queensland in 2009-2012, two NHMRC research project grants (2013-2017) (on the safety of people with communication disability in hospital) and 2014-2018 (on Australia's 'My Health Record'), and the Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) (Australian Research Council) 2014-2017 on the use of Twitter as a form of communication for people with communication disability. She was the lead investigator on an ARC Discovery project 'An Appetite for the Future: 3D Printed Food for People with Swallowing Disability' (2020-2024). Within these projects, she has completed primary PhD supervision for three high performing graduates, Dr. Melissa Brunner (2020, now lecturer at USYD) and Dr. Rebecca Smith (2023, now lecturer at WSU) and Dr Rebecca Smith (2024, now postdoctoral Research Fellow at La Trobe University), and Dr Susan Guthrie (UK, Leeds University and NHS). She currently supervises four PhD scholars.

Bronwyn's research excellence and engagement in translating this to teaching, policy, and practice was recognised with the Dean's Award for Research Excellence for a Mid Career Researcher at the University of Newcastle (2016). In 2018, her research impact case was put forward to the ARC Engagement and Impact Assessment for FOR20 (Communication, Language, and Culture) for the University of Newcastle and was awarded a High Ranking for ‘Impact’ and a High Ranking for ‘Approach to Impact’. This impact accounted for one quarter of the 'high impact' rankings obtained at the University of Newcastle in that year. At UTS, she has won the Faculty Dean's Award for Research Excellence at UTS (2021).

Christine Lai is the Research Networks Coordinator at UTS, where she specialises in the strategic coordination and management of the university’s diverse research networks.  Her role involves coordinating networks at various stages of development, facilitating collaboration among academic and external stakeholders, and supporting initiatives that enhance research visibility, engagement, and impact. She facilitates collaboration among academic and external stakeholders, enhances visibility through digital platforms, and supports the planning and delivery of events, reports, and engagement activities. Her role is positioned at the intersection of research strategy and administrative coordination, enabling cross-institutional and interdisciplinary research initiatives to thrive.

She is committed to fostering inclusive, impactful research communities that contribute to the university’s broader research objectives and societal engagement.  Through her work, Christine supports the translation of academic insights into real-world applications, fostering connections that extend beyond the university and contribute to public benefit and policy development.

I have over 20 years experience in semiconductor nanofabrication and low-dimensional materials. My career achievements include development of quantum dot architectures for the first single-photon emitting diode (Toshiba research Europe and University of Cambridge, 2001); launching the journal Nature Materials in 2002, which now has an impact factor over 40; developing applications of electron, plasma and ion beam technologies for nanostructure deposition, etching and fabrication (FEI company, Thermo Fisher, 2006-2010). From 2020-2025, I led the Physics discipline at UTS School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences and established the Bachelor of Advanced Science(Quantum Technology) at UTS, which is the first such Science undergraduate degree in Australia.

I have previously held positions as a consultant and senior scientist at FEI company (now part of Thermo Fisher), as a senior editor of Nature Materials, and a postdoctoral research position at Cambridge University. My research has produced both scientific discoveries and the development of commercial products in the fields of nanofabrication, electron/ion beam and plasma chemistry, and photonics. Under a 2018-2022 ARC Linkage grant with industry partners Thermo Fisher and Adaptas Solutions, my research group developed new technologies for next-generation electron multipliers and for ion detection in mass spectrometry. This research has been commercialized through the filing of two international patents by Thermo Fisher in 2020 and 2021 (of five international patents resulting from my group’s research in this field). My research group has also developed new methods of ion beam nanofabrication and editing of the optoelectronic properties of advanced materials such as nanodiamonds, hexagonal boron nitride single photon emitting devices, and other devices based on two-dimensional materials. This includes developments in magnetic sensor technology by utilizing assemblies of nanodiamonds, and improvements in the dynamic response and sensitivity of photodetectors based on the two-dimensional material black phosphorus. My expertise in these areas has been recognized by extensive peer citations (>5000 citations with a H index of 30). I have been co-investigator on a number of ARC grants, have several international patents and have published over 80 refereed journal and conference papers.

I am currently recruiting PhD students with skills in physics, chemistry and/or materials engineering - please take a look at my recent publications and contact me by email with your CV if you are interested in joining my group.

Linda Steele is a Professor at UTS Law Faculty. She is a socio-legal researcher working at the intersections of disability, law and social justice. She was previously a solicitor with the Intellectual Disability Rights Service.

Linda is a Global Chair at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has previously held visiting scholar roles at Harvard University’s François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Faculty of Law at Queen’s University Belfast and Osgoode Hall Law School at York University (Canada). In 2024 she was the recipient of the inaugural Hudson-Primer Fellowship Award from Northwestern Pritzker Law School Center for Disability and Racial Justice. In August 2025 Linda commenced a 3 year term on the board of the Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales.

Overview of research

Professor Steele's research has two goals:

(1). To challenge and change legal and public narratives to acknowledge violence, institutionalisation and segregation of disabled people as ableist, harmful and unjust.

(2). To deepen understanding of the utility and limits of using legal methods (such as litigation, redress schemes, truth commissions and law reform) to redress and repair the injustices of violence, institutionalisation and segregation of disabled people.

Linda progresses these goals in a range of contexts including residential institutions and other disability segregated accommodation, restrictive practices, sterilisation and menstrual suppression, criminal justice diversion programs, prison and forensic mental health incarceration, and segregated ('sheltered') employment.

Linda deeply values working with disabled people and Disabled People’s Organisations across many of her research projects. Many of her recent research publications are available in accessible Easy Read summaries at https://www.truthjusticerepair.org/easy-read.

Linda is currently leading a program of research 'Truth Justice Repair' in relation to violence, institutionalisation and segregation of disabled people. Linda is particularly interested in truth-telling, reparations, sites of conscience, and reparative pedagogies. More information is available at https://www.truthjusticerepair.org/.

Linda's earlier research focused on the role of law in carceral control and violence against disabled people. This earlier research used the concept of ‘disability-specific lawful violence’ to understand as legally sanctioned violence incarceration and coercive interventions experienced by disabled people, such as through civil mental health law, guardianship law and court diversion law.

Linda is the author of Disability, Criminal Justice and Law (2020 Routledge) and co-editor of Sites of Conscience: Place, Memory and the Project of Deinstitutionalization (2024 UBC Press), The Legacies of Institutionalisation: Disability, Law and Policy in the 'Deinstitutionalised' Community (2020 Hart Publishing), and Normalcy and Disability: Intersections Among Norms, Law, and Culture (2018 Routledge).

Research

Professor Steele is exploring disability, redress and repair in diverse contexts.

• Current research projects

Disability, truth and repair: Linda is writing a monograph on reparative approaches to disability historical injustice through the case study of disability institutionalisation. This work builds on a recently published article proposing a disability, truth and repair framework which is available to read at https://academic.oup.com/hrlr/article/25/2/ngaf012/8113340.

Reparative urban planning and heritage: Linda collaborates with Professor Phillippa Carnemolla (UTS Design, Architecture and Building) and disability advocacy organisations on research connecting the past, present and future of sites of former disability institutions. 

• In early work they collaborated with Council for Intellectual Disability, People with Disability Australia and Emeritus Professor Leanne Dowse (UNSW) on exploring what people with intellectual disability want the public to learn and remember about disability institutions and an article reporting on this work is available at https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/intljofdissocjus.3.3.0049. Linda and Phillippa continue to this work in collaboration with Council for Intellectual Disability, Hunter Circles and Advocacy for People with Disability Inc on reparative approaches to urban planning and heritage management of sites of former disability institutions.
• They have also collaborated with Council for Intellectual Disability on research supporting its advocacy campaign opposing the tourist rezoning of Peat Island in New South Wales (previously the site of a state-run disability institution for 99 years) and this submission and Easy Read summary are available at https://cid.org.au/our-campaigns/peat-island/.
• Linda and Phillippa recently completed a project with Council for Intellectual Disability on learning about and remembering the role of self-advocates in deinstitutionalisation. Easy Read and video resources produces as part of that project are available at https://cid.org.au/resource/remembering-disability-institutions/.
• Linda and Phillippa are collaborating with Speak Out Advocacy and Willow Court Heritage Site Inc on research related to a disability-inclusive and reparative heritage approach to the former Willow Court institution site in New Norfolk Tasmania. The site was recently recognised as a site of conscience by the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.

Here is a short video on Linda and Phillippa's research: 

https://youtu.be/C8HDf2tXuK0?si=5S7A1zyHvDznYT7L

Civil justice for injury in disability and aged care systems: Linda is collaborating with Professor Kylie Burns (Griffith Law School) on a scoping study to with civil justice lawyers aiming to identify key themes and issues on access to civil justice to inform the design of a larger-scale national study on the perspectives and experiences of injured disabled and older people and their families, civil justice lawyers and advocates on accessing civil justice systems.

The role of families in conceptualising and pursuing redress associated with institutionalisation of disabled people: Linda is collaborating with Professor Allison C Carey (Shippensburg University, USA) on a scoping study aiming to identify key dynamics in the role of families in redress in Australia and the United States of America.

Redressing labour exploitation in disability segregated employment: Funded by Anti-Slavery Australia, Linda is researching Australian Disability Enterprises ('sheltered' workshops) as labour exploitation. The first stage of this research explored how the political and legal re-framing of ADEs as modern slavery opens new possibilities for comprehending and redressing labour-based violence and exploitation of disabled people. The second stage of this research (with Reece Blackett) explores different possible judicial and non-judicial approaches to redressing labour exploitation in ADEs and in relation to 20th century forced labour in disability institutions.

• Recently completed research projects

A reparative approach to redressing human rights violations in aged care: Linda was CI on the project ‘Redressing Neglect and Abuse of People Living with Dementia in Residential Aged Care’ (2021-2022). This project was funded by a Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration – Dementia Australia Research Foundation Pilot Grant awarded by Dementia Australia Research Foundation. International dementia activist Kate Swaffer was an associate investigator on the project, and Dementia Alliance International and People with Disability Australia were project partners. The project explored how we redress systemic and structural harms experienced by people living with dementia in residential aged care. The project produced a set of 'Dementia Reparations Principles' to support future advocacy and policy development on redress, including specialised redress responses and reform of existing complaints/regulatory and judicial processes.

Redress and repair of disability reproductive violence: Linda collaborated with Women with Disabilities Australia on a project exploring redress for reproductive violence against women and girls with disability (2023-2024). The project identified key dimensions of a future advocacy and research framework for redressing reproductive violence against women with disability through exploring design and practice of initiatives for individual and collective redress for reproductive violence worldwide.

Disability institutions as sites of conscience: Linda co-edited with Dr Elisabeth Punzi (Gothenburg University, Sweden) Sites of Conscience: Place, Memory and the Project of Deinstitutionalization (UBC Press, 2025).

Sites of conscience: Linda collaborated with Lily Hibberd and Bonney Djuric from the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct Association to explore the role in redressing child institutional abuse of the site of conscience at the site of the former Parramatta Girls Home (‘Parramatta Female Factory Precinct Memory Project’). Linda co-edited with Associate Professor Justine Lloyd (Sociology, Macquarie University) a special issue of Space & Culture titled ‘Place, Memory and Justice: Critical Perspectives on Sites of Conscience’.

Disability and menstrual justice: Drawing on her research on sterilisation of disabled women and girls, Linda collaborated with Professor Beth Goldblatt (UTS Law) on research on menstruation, law and justice. In 2020 they were awarded the Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand (LSAANZ) Annual Publication Award for a published scholarly journal article for their article ‘Bloody Unfair: Inequality Related to Menstruation – Considering the Role of Discrimination Law’ (2019) 41(3) Sydney Law Review. In 2023, Linda and Beth worked with Professor Margaret Johnson (University of Baltimore, USA) on leading the development of 'Menstrual Justice: A Human Rights Vision for Australia'.

Contributions to the Disability Royal Commission

Professor Steele contributed to research related to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability:

Research commissioned by the Disability Royal Commission: Linda collaborated with Associate Professors Claire Spivakovsky and Dinesh Wadiwel on two research projects for the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - one on inclusive and accessible complaint mechanisms (2022) and one on restrictive practices (2023).

Research with Women with Disabilities Australia: During 2021 and 2022, Linda collaborated with Women with Disabilities Australia on four submissions to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability: restrictive practices, sexual and reproductive rights, guardianship law, and quality & safeguarding. In 2021, Linda appeared at a Royal Commission hearing on sexual and reproductive rights alongside Carolyn Frohmader, former CEO of WWDA.

• Research leadership

Professor Steele is a co-convenor of the UTS Law Faculty's Law Health Justice Research Group (2025-) and previously co-convened the faculty's Feminist Legal Research Group (2017-2024). 

She is a member of the leadership team of the UTS Disability Research Network.

Linda convenes the Disability, Law and Society Network of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. This network brings together disability law researchers across academia, advocacy, activism and policy settings. Please contact Linda if you would like to join.

Teaching

Professor Steele teaches civil court procedure law and mental health and disability law. She is on the author team of the 5th edition of the textbook Civil Procedure and Dispute Resolution in New South Wales (Thomson Reuters, 2025).

In 2021 Linda was the inaugural recipient of the Australian Legal Education Award (ALEA) for Excellence in Teaching (Engagement) for ‘transforming students’ understanding of disability and mental health law and empowering them to become agents of disability justice through engaging with communities’. In 2020 she was awarded the UTS Teaching and Learning Citation for ‘empowering law students to be agents of disability justice’.

HDR Supervision

Professor Steele is the proud supervisor of talented disability law research students: Tom Bailo, Elvira Pertega, and Kate Swaffer. She welcomes sociolegal and interdisciplinary opportunities for PhD research supervision.

Dr Yvette Selim (née) is the Research and Engagement Manager at the Institute for Public Policy and Governance. She is a pracademic with extensive experience in civic engagement, participatory governance and inclusive public policy.

Over the past two decades, Yvette has led and collaborated on initiatives with government agencies, civil society organisations and international partners in Australia and abroad. Her work spans research, programme delivery and cross-sector partnerships and is grounded in co-design, lived experience and community voice.

She has a strong foundation in peacebuilding, human rights and ethical practice and is committed to strengthening democratic institutions through evidence-informed approaches that foster enduring relationships between institutions and the communities they serve. Her research is practice- and policy-oriented with expertise in qualitative methods and data analysis. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Nepal and research on child labour, children’s rights, economic livelihoods, gender-based violence and peace negotiations in the Philippines, Sudan and Sri Lanka.

Yvette’s academic background includes law, conflict resolution, bioethics and medical science. She has worked with organisations such as the International Development Law Organization (Sri Lanka), the Australian Human Rights Centre, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (US), Baker & McKenzie (Australia and Thailand), The Asia Foundation (Philippines) and the Centre for International Cooperation and Security (UK). She has also held visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford and the Australian National University.

She completed her doctoral studies at the University of New South Wales where she lectured in development studies, international relations, social science and qualitative research methods. She has published widely and serves as a reviewer for several high-ranking international journals.

Dr Kirsty Young is Head of the UTS Institute for Education. The Institute prepares educators, education leaders and learning designers to create meaningful change in schools, communities and workplaces. Through strong partnerships, practice-based learning and research-informed teaching, the Institute supports learning across the lifespan and contributes to more equitable educational outcomes.

Kirsty provides strategic leadership for the Institute's teaching, research and external engagement, working with colleagues, schools, education systems, industry and government to strengthen educational opportunities and impact. She is committed to building collaborative partnerships that connect research, policy and practice and prepare graduates to meet the evolving needs of learners and educators.

An internationally recognised researcher in inclusive and special education, Kirsty's work focuses on creating more equitable educational experiences and life outcomes for children and young people with disability. Her research spans inclusive education, school-community partnerships, teacher professional learning, transition to employment, and interdisciplinary models that integrate education and allied health services. She has attracted competitive funding from organisations including the National Disability Insurance Agency, the NSW Department of Education and the Limb Family Foundation.

Kirsty leads the UTS Child, Youth and Parents' Inclusive Research Panel, an initiative that brings together young people with disability and parents and caregivers to co-design inclusive research across disciplines. Funded through the UTS Disability Access and Inclusion Fund, the panel supports meaningful participation in research that addresses issues identified by people with lived experience.

Collaboration is central to Kirsty's research. She works with researchers, educators, health professionals, disability organisations and policymakers across Australia and internationally to translate evidence into practice. She also co-leads the UTS Disability Research Network, fostering interdisciplinary research that advances disability inclusion across education, health, technology, design and society.

Alongside her leadership and research, Kirsty remains actively engaged in teaching and curriculum development. She has extensive experience preparing future teachers to create inclusive learning environments, with particular expertise in disability inclusion, evidence-informed practice and translating research into practical strategies for educators.