Benjamin Hourn

Proposed Title

Welfare without the Welfare: The Intersection of People and Unemployment Policy

Supervisors

Principal Supervisor - Dr Donna Bridges
Co-Supervisor - Dr Wilson Dobud

About my research

My research explores the relationship between policy intentions and lived reality within Australia’s unemployment welfare system. Situated at the intersection of social work, social policy, and social policy advocacy, the research focuses on how people receiving unemployment benefits experience and navigate welfare systems in their everyday lives. While welfare policy is often discussed through legislation, administration, and reform, I am interested in what people’s experiences can tell us about how policy is understood and experienced in everyday life.

The research takes a bottom-up approach, starting with the experiences of people receiving unemployment benefits rather than the assumptions of policy. Focusing on the Blacktown Local Government Area of Western Sydney, the project explores these experiences within a community where poverty, socioeconomic disadvantage, and long-term reliance on income support remain significant social issues. Through participants’ stories, the research considers how welfare policy shapes everyday life and what this reveals about the relationship between policy intentions and lived reality.

Using a narrative approach, I talk with people about their lives and experiences to better understand their stories and how they make sense of the welfare system over time. My background in social work and social policy advocacy, alongside lived experience of poverty and welfare reliance, informs my interest in understanding welfare policy from the perspective of those who experience it directly. The research seeks to contribute a deeper understanding of unemployment welfare by bringing lived experience into conversations about policy development, implementation, and reform.

Why I chose Charles Sturt

I chose to undertake my Doctorate at Charles Sturt University because of its strong emphasis on applied research that engages with real-world social issues, particularly socio-economic disadvantage.

As a CSU alumnus, having completed my Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Graduate Certificate at the university, I have developed a strong connection to the institution and benefited from sustained academic support across my studies. My research, which examines how people experience systems of disadvantage, is shaped by both my professional practice and my lived experience growing up within contexts of socio-economic disadvantage.

I am interested in understanding how systemic disadvantage is produced and maintained, and in contributing to research that informs practical and policy responses. CSU’s focus on applied, community-engaged research and its commitment to addressing social inequality align closely with my values and research aims, making it a suitable environment to continue my academic development and contribute to work that responds to structural disadvantage.