Discipline of Criminology

Prior to entering academia Philip began his career in the 1990's working as a criminologist in the field holding the following posts:
- Specialist Crime Team Manager – Kirklees Safer Communities Partnership, West Yorkshire, UK.
- Community Safety Research Manager – Bolton Safer Communities Partnership, Greater Manchester, UK.
- Senior Policy Officer (Crime Prevention/Reduction) –Oldham Safer Communities Partnership, Greater Manchester, UK.
- Through Care Worker – HM Prison Manchester, Greater Manchester, UK.
- Through Care Worker – HM Young Offenders Institution Lancaster Farms, Lancashire, UK.

Philip entered academia in January 2007 and has taught in the British, American and Australian university systems. His teaching has also been recognised by the Australian College of Educators in which he won a teaching award (2019) for outstanding contribution to education.

With over 130 publications to date, including books, book chapters and peer review journal articles, Philip’s research centres on his practice background and engagement with industry, focusing on:
- Police & Policing;
- Community Safety & Crime Prevention;
- Prisons, Probation & Parole Policy & Practice;
- Assessment, Treatment & Management of Offenders;
- Gender & sexuality inclusive Domestic and Family Violence (DFV)/Inter-partner Violence (IPV);
- Sex Work, Sex Workers and Procurement.

Since entering academia he has secured $1.5 million in research funding/grants, including an ARC Linkage grant, which has addressed a variety of themes within his areas of expertise, and has acted as an external assessor for domestic and international funding bodies in the area of Criminology/Criminal Justice. Philip has also presented his work at conferences both domestic and international, including invited papers and keynotes. In 2019, Philip was an invited member of the Australian delegation to the United Nations, Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which included the delivery of a plenary session at the 28th session of the CCPCJ in Vienna, Austria. Philip also won a Literati Award in 2019 for his published work. In 2022, he established the Crime & Security Science (CaSS) Research Group at UTS, a cross faculty and industry connected initiative, that seeks to advance applied and translational criminology, criminal justice, policing and community safety evidence-based research and consultancy.

Throughout his academic career, Philip has been involved in the supervision of Honours, Masters by Coursework, Masters by Research and PhD students in the field of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Policing, with 18 completions to date. Philip has also acted as a HDR examiner in the areas of Criminology, Policing and Forensic Psychology.

Philip is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy as well as a Visiting Professor in the School of Psychology (Forensic Centre), University of Central Lancashire, UK, a Professorial Associate in the Ashworth Research Centre, Ashworth High Secure Forensic Mental Health Hospital, National Health Services, UK and a Visiting Professor (Police Science) at the Institute of Policing & Security at the University of South Wales, UK.

Philip is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice (2014-Present) and Abuse: An International Impact Journal (2020-Present).  He is an associate editor for the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (2022-Present) - making him the first criminologist to be part of the editorial leadership team. Philip also sat on the editorial board for the Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research between 2009-2022 before taking on the editor-in-chief role in January 2023.

At UTS, Philip holds a number of governance roles at the school, faculty and university level, including Criminology Course Co-ordinator; Chair - Crime & Security Science Research Group (CaSS) and Human Research Ethics Committee (UTS HREC, Member).

As a criminologist and sociologist, I seek to understand and address contemporary crime and justice challenges across social, technological and global contexts. I investigate how diverse groups of individuals and communities experience and perpetrate violence and crime in both physical and digital spaces, and I evaluate the effectiveness of criminal justice responses to these harms. My research explores risk and protective factors, mental health impacts on vulnerable groups, public perceptions of safety, and how social, cultural, and technological contexts shape victimisation and justice outcomes to inform evidence-based policy and practice.