Research and Policy
The research and policy work of Lab members forms a network of projects, collaborations and nodes.
We invite you to browse current and past work below, read our publications and get involved.
Research projects
Major research projects are at the core of the Lab’s work. Each project is led by an Academic Chair from the University of Sydney, involves collaborators from across faculties and external partners, and is supported by Lab staff.
Championing Australia’s Relational Economy
The Championing Australia’s Relational Economy program seeks to elevate care in society through exploratory and applied research that embeds person-centred principles, values and practices in Australian public policy.
Building on the success of Australia Cares, the program is an umbrella for the Lab’s multidisciplinary, community-centred research across the lifespan. We work with people across the University of Sydney alongside the expertise and wisdom of CARE partners in the community. The program’s strength is its commitment to partnership with communities, practitioners, researchers and policymakers in Australia and internationally.
Collaborations
Our collaborations connect Lab researchers with other research groups, governments, civil society organisations and philanthropy.
Campus collaboration
We believe invigorating the civic life of the University will help us all to flourish, and all the more in times of heightened disagreement or conflict.
In Semester 2 2024, the Policy Lab began six months of explorations with students and staff to understand the wealth of existing thinking and practices that go to the heart of how to invigorate campus life and foster a culture of thoughtful disagreement. As we consider the shape of future work in this area, it is important to us to take a community-led approach that invites the expertise and creativity of staff and students from across the University of Sydney.
The Campus Collaboration is led by Dr Kate Harrison Brennan (Director, Sydney Policy Lab Director), Associate Professor Sophie Gee (Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow) and Professor Danielle Celermajer. Read an interview with the academic leads on taking a community-led approach to invigorating life on campus.
The Campus Collaboration will continue work with staff and students through 2025. Join the Sydney Policy Lab mailing list to connect with the Collaboration.
Housing Distress
The Sydney Policy Lab is working in partnership with the Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action (SOAS, University of London) to explore issues of housing distress, migration and coloniality in Australia and the UK.
This qualitative research will focus on experiences of distress as a result of poor housing and how these issues affect different demographics uniquely, as well as the historical and cultural factors shaping housing outcomes. The collaboration is under development with local community partners. Research will commence in early 2025.
Housing and inequality
Emerging collaboration on housing and inequality led by Professor Garry Barrett, Associate Professor Leigh-Anne Hepburn and Professor Jaime Miranda.
Research for policy impact 2024
In 2024, the Lab has supported projects by members working toward policy impact. Supported projects include:
- Professor Gaby Ramia: “International Education Policy in and for Australia: Stakeholder Perspectives.”
- Professor Debra Jones, Head of Rural Clinical School (Broken Hill), and Ms Mariah Goldsworthy, First Nations lead: “Aboriginal cultural protocols in research.” Developing a suite of place-based cultural protocols and guidelines to clearly define First Nations People’s expectations around culturally appropriate and respectful research.
- Professor Lee Wallace: “Queer Normal School: Building Queer Community and Research.”
- Associate Professor Carmen Huckel Schneider: “Meso- and macro-level policy support for place-based work in Australian health settings.”
Nodes
Breakthroughs on complex policy challenges happen when researchers build understanding and relationships across disciplinary lines. The Lab nurtures these connections through nodes.
Each of the Lab's seven nodes is a group of academics and community members with a shared interest in a specific public policy area or methodology that can transform lives. They are convened by two or more University of Sydney researchers who are joined by early- and mid-career researchers as founding members.
With Lab support and seed funding, node members share existing work, create space for collaboration and nurture future full-scale Lab research projects. For academics, nodes are an opportunity for leadership, connection with peers and access to the benefits of Lab membership.
Researchers, policymakers and community members are encouraged to explore the list of successful nodes and get involved by connecting with node convenors.
Expressions of interest for additional nodes will be sought in 2025.
In direct contrast to conventional approaches to policy development, which involve sequential phases of research, implementation and evaluation, this joint node with the Charles Perkins Centre explores the use of adaptive design principles in policy.
We will take inspiration from complex adaptive systems theory to evolve policies towards optimal outcomes in real time, using feedback derived from publicly available big data. The principles of complex adaptive design come from biology – notably evolutionary biology, development and neural networks – and are now widely implemented in AI. With the advent of big data recorded constantly and in real time by commercial actors, there is now the opportunity to apply adaptive design principles in policy.
Convenors:
Early- and mid-career researchers:
Arts and cultural practice strongly benefit health and wellbeing with the World Health Organisation now leading collaborations to address health inequity and social determinants of health through the arts.
In Australia, however, there is limited policy development integrating arts and culture with health and wellbeing, either at local and practice levels or state and federally. This node brings together researchers, policymakers and artist practitioners to move beyond current barriers and provide innovations in arts and health policy.
Convenors:
Early- and mid-career researchers:
- Dr Thomas de Angelis
- Dr Supriya Subramani
- Dr Vaibhav Tyagi
Australian industrial policy is shifting dramatically toward strategic interventions. The National Reconstruction Fund and recent Future Made in Australia Act signal a mission-driven approach to transforming Australia’s resource- and commodity-based economy into one fuelled by targeted innovation in areas of national priority.
With multi-billion dollar stimulation programs and major public investments in place, universities play a central role in advancing innovation and research commercialisation to meet this agenda.
Bringing together experts in innovation, public policy, academic entrepreneurs, industry partners and venture capitalists, the node provides a platform for this community to engage, contribute to public discourse and drive research toward improving policies which stand to accelerate university research commercialisation.
Convenors:
Early- and mid-career researchers:
- Dr Nicholas Everett
- Dr Nick Hunt
- Associate Professor Girish Lakhwani
After decades of relatively settled policy, Australian international education is increasingly subject to political contest.
The new policy environment calls for genuine consultation and understanding with shared strategic approaches among international education stakeholders. This node is a forum for such consultation, seeding scholarly and impact-focused interventions through a stakeholder-inclusive model.
The international education policy node’s extended network includes community sector representatives, researchers and teachers, and tertiary providers including universities, English language, TAFE and vocational education institutions.
Convenors:
Early- and mid-career researchers:
- Dr Alexandra McCormick
- Dr Ryan Cox
The Justice Collaboration focuses on justice-related issues and improving outcomes for people interacting with the criminal justice system. Concerns about youth crime are leading to quick-fix policies and laws across the country. Despite Closing the Gap targets, the incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is increasing. We believe better outcomes can be achieved for all involved in the system through interdisciplinary collaboration, broad engagement with industry and community-led work. There are many mutually beneficial opportunities that will support and improve criminal justice policy, including student-led projects, engaged research, and joint training and education.
Convenors:
Early- and mid-career researchers:
- Dr Marlee Bower
- Dr Jedidiah Evans
- Dr Lobna Yassine
This node focuses on developing community-centred social policy solutions to inequalities in health outcomes by addressing the root causes of socio-economic inequality.
Australia has seen dramatic improvements in health over the last century, but over recent decades inequality of health outcomes has grown across the socio-economic spectrum.
While the discipline of public health is tasked with protecting, promoting and improving the health of the population, the instruments currently at its disposal are inadequate to modify the structural drivers of inequality. By learning from communities and bridging the gap between public health and other disciplines, this node works to shift the dial on inequality.
Convenors:
Early- and mid-career researchers:
- Dr Gareth Bryant
- Dr Anita Van Zweiten
- Dr Saman Khalatbari Soltani
The wellbeing of teachers and leaders in schools directly impacts educators’ ability to teach and lead effectively, and their decision to remain in the profession. By addressing this issue, we aim to tackle the national teacher shortage, elevate the status of the teaching profession, and enhance the quality of the education system.
Bringing together researchers, teachers, school leaders and community members, this node co-creates, implements and evaluates policy that can improve the wellbeing of educators in Australian schools.
Convenors:
Policy Bites research seminars
Our lunchtime seminars – Policy Bites – are a forum for researchers and practitioners to present their exploratory and applied policy work in its early stages. Each public seminar gathers the Lab community in our collaborative space to hear and discuss new research as we exchange ideas across disciplines.
Semester 2 2024 seminars have concluded. The Semester 1 2025 program will be announced in the coming months.
Semester 2, 2024 Policy Bites
- 10 September – Premature mortality of racial minorities and the poor, politics, and the perpetuation of inequality - Associate Professor Javier Rodriguez, Claremont Graduate University
- 24 September – Story Tech: Power, Storytelling & Social Change Advocacy – Professor Ariadne Vromen, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU
- 15 October – A whole-systems approach to person-centred care – Professor Brendan McCormack, Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, The University of Sydney
- 29 October – Is global childhood immunisation still a force for equity? – Professor Kim Mulholland, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
- 12 November – Co-governance: Communities and government working together better – Dr Frances Foster-Thorpe, NSW Cabinet Office; Professor Ilan Katz, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW; Dr Shona Bates, Centre for Future Health Systems, UNSW
Policy Bites are organised by Dr Kate Harrison Brennan, Director, Sydney Policy Lab; Dr Assel Mussagulova, Lecturer in Public Policy and Public Administration, School of Social and Political Sciences; and Associate Professor Meru Sheel, Sydney School of Public Health.