People_
Our researchers
Meet the faculty staff shaping policy debates with our partners
Our research leads and affiliated researchers work with others to develop solutions to critical policy challenges. Our broad network includes scholars from the University of Sydney, Australia and the world as well as those from outside the academy.
Juliet is the Collaborative Research Manager and a researcher at the Lab, providing input and oversight to collaborative research processes and outputs across the Lab’s projects. Juliet holds a PhD and MPhil in Philosophy, and a MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Sydney.
Dr Gareth Bryant is Economist-in-Residence at the Sydney Policy Lab. He works as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Economy. Gareth researches how public policy and public finance can create more sustainable, equal and democratic economies. His research has focused on many issues including climate change, higher education, housing, labour and Indigenous justice. Gareth’s cross-disciplinary research has been published across a wide range of policy, geography and economics journals. He is the author of Carbon Markets in a Climate-Changing Capitalism (2019) published by Cambridge University Press. Gareth co-edits the Progress in Political Economy (PPE) blog and associated Manchester University Press book series.
Dr Benedict Coleridge joins the Lab as Academic Advisor to the Australia Cares project, developing the concept for the People’s Commission in a collaborative manner. Ben recently completed his Master of Studies in Law at Yale Law School and holds a PhD in Politics and an MPhil in Politics (Political Theory) from the University of Oxford.
Professor McCormack is an internationally renowned nursing leader, and has spent his career enabling person-centred practices in nursing and healthcare through participatory action research. He is now Head of School and Dean, Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery at the Faculty of Medicine and Health. Brendan has a deep commitment to cultures and practices of relational care.
Dr Amanda Tattersall is an Associate Professor of Practice with the School of Geosciences, and Research and Education Lead at the Sydney Policy Lab, bringing decades of change making experience to the University. As a community organiser, she founded Australia’s largest and broadest community coalition, the Sydney Alliance and co-founded the digital campaign group Get Up. She has participated in a variety of social movements, including as an elected official at Unions NSW, President of the National Union of Students and co-founder of Labor for Refugees. She also has a PhD in social change strategy and has written the first internationally recognised book on coalitions, Power in Coalition (2010) published by Cornell University Press, and has a forthcoming book written with Professor Kurt Iveson called People Power in Cities (Oxford University Press). She also hosts the ChangeMakers Podcast which tells stories of people who are trying to make the world a better place.
Affiliated researchers
More than 150 University researchers are members of the Lab, across many disciplines and faculties. They contribute to our ongoing activities, participate in our training programs and build relationships and research projects with business, government and civil society partner institutions.
Care and caring […] are core to humanity. When we care we focus on what really matters. However in Western societies, we have tended to reduce care to the bottom rung of significance and importance, in terms of what is valued in society. Moving between lived-experience and policy shaping, the work of the Sydney Policy Lab will go a long way towards repositioning care and ensuring that all persons, especially those in greatest need will have their need for care met with dignity and respect.
Brendan McCormack, Head of the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery
