Professor Gerry Redmond is a sociologist and social policy analyst. His research aims to focus the attention of advocates, policymakers and practitioners in health, education and community services on what young people themselves see as the challenges in their lives, and the supports that can help them overcome these challenges. He has led several projects funded by the Australian Research Council and other bodies, including the Australian Child Wellbeing Project. He leads the current Wellbeing in Adolescence project.
Pammi Raghavendra is an Associate Professor in Disability and Community Inclusion, College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University. Pammi is a speech pathologist and her current research focuses on investigating the impact of mobile and internet technologies on communication, social networks and social participation of young people and adults with disabilities.
Professor Fiona Brooks (BA, PhD) [deceased 13 January 2023] was PVC and Dean of the Faculty of Health and Environmental Science at Auckland University of Technology. She was a sociologist with international expertise in adolescent health. Her work challenged a deficit approach to young people’s health by examining protective health assets. She undertook research for WHO from 2008 on the international Health Behaviour in School Aged Children Study (HBSC) and was CI on the NHMRC CRE for Adolescent Health.
Professor Colin MacDougall is an Emeritus Professor of Public Health at Flinders University with honorary positions at the Universities of Melbourne and Pokhara (Nepal). Colin misunderstood children’s books till age 14: confusing “good for nothing” with “philanthropist.” From unpromising beginnings, his Australian and international collaborations produced numerous publications and policy advice advancing children’s rights.
Dr Jennifer Skattebol, Dip Ed (EC), B.Ed., PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow at SPRC, UNSW Sydney. Her research explores issues of economic inequality and how they are experienced by children and their families. She is primarily a qualitative and mixed method researcher grounded in the disciplines of education, sociology and social policy. Her methodological expertise is designing mixed method and qualitative research which captures the perspectives of children, young people and their families in contexts of disadvantage. She has worked extensively with government and non-government bodies on issues related to early years education, child and youth poverty and how service systems might better meet the needs of these young Australians and their families.
Gill Main is an Associate Professor of Childhood Studies at the University of Leeds. Her research focuses on child poverty and social exclusion, with a particular emphasis on how children’s knowledge and perspectives can be incorporated into theorising, measuring and addressing these issues. She is interested in mixed methods and co-production in research with children, young people and families.
Sabera Turkmani completed her PhD in Public Health and is working as a research fellow and academic at the University of Technology Sydney. Sabera has experience in quality improvement and strengthening of health services. She has a keen interest in the area of public health with a focus on women’s health and gender equality through her work with national and international organisations.
Cathy Thomson BA (USyd), MA (UNSW), PhD (UNSW) is a research Fellow at the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC), UNSW Sydney. Cathy has been involved in academic and applied research and program evaluations based on mixed methods and quasi-experimental design. Cathy specialises in research on the characteristics and processes of service systems that assist or prevent vulnerable population groups such as young people and carers accessing resources and support.
Bright Opoku Ahinkorah is a PhD (Public Health) student at the school of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, NSW, Australia. He holds a Master of Philosophy (Health Education) degree from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. His research interests are in adolescent sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health, sexual violence and women’s empowerment. He is currently a research assistant on the Wellbeing in Adolescence Project.
Joanna Wang PhD (USyd) is a senior lecturer in Statistics at the University of Technology Sydney. Before joining UTS, she worked as a research statistician at the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. Her research interests include time series modelling in observational studies, nonresponse in survey data and statistical methods for evaluating policy programs.
Dr. Alexander O’Donnell has a PhD in Social Psychology and is currently a Research Associate at Flinders University undertaking work in adolescent development. His primary research focus has considered how the social and cultural context impacts the mental health and psychosocial development of marginalised adolescents. Specific factors investigated have been leisure time (e.g., organized sports, time online), peer relations, and other structural barriers (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage). His other research interests include prejudice reduction strategies and refugee acculturation.