Presentations

Reconciliation first entered policy vocabulary in 1991as a governmental response to calls for a treaty with First Nations peoples. The Hawke government at the time argued that before a treaty could proceed, non-Indigenous Australians must be educated on the issues facing First Nations people. Since then, reconciliation has been linked to education through specific policy levers, such as sections of the Mparntwe Declaration and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures Cross-Curriculum Priority. However, it has been argued that reconciliation acts as a form of settler-colonial control over social justice relating to First Nations people and has failed to educate non-Indigenous Australians, a claim underscored by the Voice to Parliament referendum result.

My research is interested in how national policies relating to reconciliation are prioritised, interpreted, and contested by educators at a local level. Focusing on a Victorian public schools as the state progresses towards treaty, my PhD aims to investigate how educators navigate competing logics of reconciliation, self-determination, and sovereignty and how policy discourses may shape teacher commitments to social justice.

Background

Honing in on how communication functions in a complex multidisciplinary stakeholder environment, this work seeks to explore diverse perspectives of participants in the international movement Equally Well; a collaborative social change project aimed at improving physical health of people living with mental illness. From the lens of a communication practitioner and scholar, the researcher is uncovering previously invisible factors that influence communication amongst participants to foster trust and build genuine collaborative relationships.

Methodology

Moving towards a Grounded Theory of Continuous Communication within the Collective Impact Model, this research aims to make a valuable contribution to theories of communication in the popular social change model, Collective Impact, as well as enhance capacity for understanding factors that influence trust and engagement in complex stakeholder environments.

Findings

This research shares insights from 32 in-depth interviews with Equally Well network members across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Early findings highlight a critical need for clearer communication within organisations and the importance of creating inclusive spaces for genuine community engagement and processes that value co-creation. Competing priorities and entrenched communication cultures are undermining efforts to establish an agreed agenda for change, even when the need is urgent.

Impact

This work is attracting attention from leaders in mental health social change movements in Australia and internationally, who are seeking to better understand the factors that sustain momentum towards long term change where multidisciplinary perspectives are needed to help solve complex systemic issues.

The aim of this research is to explore the impacts of violence, trauma and oppression that Australia Aboriginal women endure, including colonisation and its ongoing effects, racially discriminatory policies and increased exposure to domestic and family violence (DFV) and sexual abuse and contrast this with their extraordinary strength and capacity to survive. This PhD will be presented by publications and will be achieved through the submission of four research papers, comprising of three pieces of secondary research and a primary research study.

Drawing on existing literature, the secondary research explores key themes that contribute to Australian Aboriginal women strength including Aboriginal lore, Aboriginal culture, kinship connections and strong leaders. From this a review, the second paper builds on the concept of leadership and explores the vital role of Elders and female leaders in preserving Indigenous knowledge. The third paper examines why cultural continuation is so important and will focus on the power of cultural connection in healing intergenerational wounds.

The primary research focuses specifically on the strength of Larrakia women. This study will utilise Indigenous methodologies and a yarning research method to explore how Larrakia women draw on cultural strength, identity, and community to resist and survive systemic oppression, racism and violence.

Through this research, I aim to share a genuinely strengths-based body of work that centres the stories and lived experiences of Aboriginal women, celebrating their strength, cultural survival, resilience, and healing journeys.

This presentation provides an overview of research examining how Australian Muslim victim-survivors who have survived domestic violence experience trauma, healing, and post-traumatic growth through an Islamic spiritual lens. Domestic violence remains a significant issue in Australia, yet little is known about how Muslim women recover from its psychological and spiritual impacts. This study bridges that gap by exploring how participants draw upon Islamic concepts and practices to restore wellbeing and achieve growth after trauma.

Using qualitative semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis, the study identified how healing unfolds across the five domains of post-traumatic growth: appreciation of life, new possibilities, personal strength, relating to others, and spiritual transformation. A central finding is that growth and trauma are not sequential but concurrent: women learn to thrive with trauma through deepened faith, remembrance of God (dhikr), patience (sabr), trust (tawakkul), and reconnection to their innate spiritual nature (fitrah). Prayer and worship were experienced as embodied states of alignment and safety, facilitating integration between body, mind, and soul.

The research develops a culturally and spiritually congruent model of healing rooted in the Islamic worldview. It expands existing theories of post-traumatic growth by positioning Islamic spirituality as both an epistemology and a therapeutic process. These insights have implications for trauma-informed care, policy, and community practice, offering pathways for more holistic and faith-sensitive approaches to recovery among Muslim women in Australia.

The history of ballet pedagogy from its beginnings in Europe is widely documented in academic texts and grey literature, yet its evolution in the Australian context remains under-researched. This study addresses that gap by constructing a historical narrative that explores and discusses the development of ballet teaching in Australia. Document analysis will be undertaken, piecing together archival material, grey literature, such as theses and conference papers, as well as ephemera, including theatre advertisements, theatre archives, historic classified advertisements, print articles, non-digitised personal archives, and 19th-century newspaper advertisements   for ballet teachers. This will all be viewed through an interpretative lens to construct a historical narrative. The timeframe for this investigation is from the beginnings of ballet in Australia in the 1830s, shaped by European traditions, to the introduction of structured ballet syllabi from Europe in the 1930s. This investigation will demonstrate that, although some available data encompasses various aspects of this subject, there is no evidence to connect all these cohesively. Notwithstanding this, the data will allow the researcher to understand and interpret the information, revealing emergent themes that can be expanded upon. There is considerable scope for future studies in this under-researched subject; indeed, research recommendations for theme-related sub-topics will be provided to enhance knowledge and understanding of this deficit topic in Australian ballet teaching history.

This PhD by publication explores the trauma experiences of Residential Support Workers (RSWs) assisting young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) settings environments often characterised by complex trauma, behavioural challenges, and systemic constraints. The first publication, Exploring the Impact of Trauma on Residential Support Workers Assisting Young People in Out-of-Home Care: A Scoping Review, mapped the global evidence on workforce trauma, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The second paper, Policies in Practice: A Critical Review of Organisational Responses to Residential Support Worker Trauma in Out-of-Home Care Agencies in Victoria, critically examined how institutional policies either mitigate or exacerbate trauma-related challenges within care organisations. Building on these studies, the current phase uses qualitative data from interviews and focus group discussions with RSWs in Melbourne to analyse how trauma impacts professional boundaries, care quality, and worker well-being. Preliminary findings reveal that while many RSWs demonstrate resilience, inconsistent trauma-informed supervision, organisational neglect, and systemic pressures heighten the risk of burnout. The research aims to co-develop a trauma-informed support model that enhances reflective supervision, peer collaboration, and organisational responsiveness, ultimately strengthening workforce sustainability and improving outcomes for vulnerable young people.

The development of children’s scientific literacy in the early years grows children’s scientific knowledge and understanding and improves their analytical and problem-solving capabilities, which in turn progress and sustain their higher learning skills and competencies for later stages. A systematic review of scientific literacy identified that the process of developing, progressing and sustaining children’s scientific literacy in the early years is still a significant knowledge gap. This presentation explores how children develop, progress and sustain their scientific literacy through science play experiences with the help of educators’ intentionality. Using the cultural-historical lens, this article analysed more than 16 hours of digital video data from children’s science play activities collected from two regional preschools in Australia. Besides, informal discussions with educators and their pedagogical reflections were also analysed. The study’s findings illustrated a three-stage continuum from developing to progressing children’s scientific literacy: planning, play-based action and production phase, and pedagogical reflections. Aligned with this three-stage continuum, the findings also illustrated another four-stage continuum for sustaining children’s scientific literacy: planned play-based scientific experiences, initial scientific literacy development, continuation and sustainable scientific literacy. Focusing on educators’ intentionality in organising science play activities, the study recommends continuing planned interrelated and interconnected science play activities aiming to apply scientific concepts in a practical situation to develop, progress and sustain children’s scientific literacy in the early years.

In the context of a global teacher shortage, Australian schools are facing significant teacher supply and return challenges (Department of Education, 2022b). Governments worldwide have renewed interest to recruit career changers to teaching (Bauer et al., 2017) as one strategy to address teacher supply (White et al., 2024). However, the literature shows there is little recent research about career changers transitioning to the teaching profession (Dadvand et al., 2023). Therefore, this research aims to explore career changers transition to teaching in a given context in Australia. The study will focus on career changers who are completing a two-year Master of Teaching Initial Teacher Education (ITE) course in New South Wales, Australia. This research study will employ a qualitative, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. Schlossberg’s (1981) theory of adult transition will guide the research study to help answer the research questions. Data collection through in-depth semi-structured interviews will be completed at two points in time during the research participants ITE enrolment. The results will be analysed to build new knowledge offering insights to understand the transition to teaching for career changer. The findings will inform stakeholders about the complex interplay of factors that impact career changer transition to teaching. This research will provide insights to help understand this group and propose a holistic and structured approach to support career changers transition to teaching. Recommendations could also inform stakeholders at a national and international level who are interested in career changer professionals transition to teaching.

What happens when Chinese grandmothers decide to put themselves first? This presentation shares the inspiring stories of three older Chinese Australian women who started learning piano later in life. For them, it was not just a hobby, but a long-delayed dream. Through their stories, we can see how piano learning greatly improved their lives. It gave them a strong sense of achievement and pride. It also became a special bridge, connecting them to their Chinese heritage through familiar songs and helping them build closer bonds with their family and friends. This presentation is one stop on our Research Roadshow. It invites you to think about the power of music and learning at every age stage.