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Professor Gabrielle Meagher

BEc(SocSci)Hons(Sydney), PhD(Sydney)

Professor of Social Policy

Convenor, MTeach Honours Program

Co-convenor, Social Policy Research Network

Associate Dean (Research) (Acting)

Email:

Phone: +61 2 9351 6610

Fax: +61 2 9351 2606

Building.Room: A35.536

Research interests

Social structures, inequalities and social justice

  • Gender relations and gender identity

Social work and social policy

  • Ageing
  • Social policy

Keywords

care work, privatisation, elder care, comparative social policy, public opinion on inequality and the welfare state


Professional biography

Gabrielle trained as a political economist, and her interdisciplinary research program explores two main themes.

The first seeks to bring social (or community) services in general, and social service workers in particular, to the centre of social policy analysis. This research is underpinned by the belief that social services make a crucial contribution to standards of living, especially for vulnerable people, and that the care workers who deliver social services need good quality working conditions and fair pay for social service systems to be sustainable. Her contributions to this field have been both theoretical and empirical, and she has collaborated with Professor Karen Healy at the University of Queensland on much of the empirical work.

In 2009, Gabrielle's research on social services took on an international dimension, when she spent six months as a guest professor in the Department of Social Work at Stockholm University. During this visit, she began working with Professor Marta Szebehely of the University of Stockholm on a project investigating privatisation of elder care in Sweden.

Her second research program investigates the changing priorities of the Australian welfare state, focusing on the relationship between policy development and public attitudes to social policy. She has collaborated with Dr Shaun Wilson of Macquarie University in much of this work. Gabrielle and Shaun were two of the Principal Investigators of the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA) in 2003 and 2005.

Gabrielle has a keen interest in the development of honours and doctoral research programs, and teaches research methods to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Gabrielle's research areas for PhD supervision include:

  • the organisation and experience of work in female dominated occupations, especially in care work in community service industries such as aged care, child care, and child welfare;
  • the role of for-profit providers in social services;
  • the impact of managerialism on social service organisations and policies;
  • public opinion on social policy;
  • the development of the Australian welfare state;
  • applied ethics in social care services; and
  • comparative social policy. 

Her previous doctoral students include Dr Natasha Cortis, Dr Christina Ho and Dr Ben Spies-Butcher. She is currently supervising Toby Fattore, who is researching children's work.


Awards

  • Norman Smith Research Award for best research article in Australian Social Work 2007 (won jointly with Professor Karen Healy)


Professional and community roles


Current projects

  • the role of market organisations in social service provision in Australia and Sweden
  • Australian attitudes to social policy for older people

Selected publications

Books

Book chapters

  • Meagher, G, Cortis, N and Healy, K. (2009). Strategic Challenges in Child Welfare Services: A Comparative Study of Australia, England and Sweden . In Rummery, K, Greener, I and Holden, C (Eds.), Social Policy Review 21: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy Bristol: The Policy Press.
  • Meagher, G and Cortis, N. (2009). The Political Economy of For-profit Paid Care: Theory and Evidence. In King, D and Meagher, G. (Eds.), Paid Care in Australia: Politics, Profits, Practices Sydney: Sydney University Press.
  • Wilson, S, Meagher, G. (2007). Howard's Welfare State: How Popular is the New Social Policy Agenda. In Denemark, D., Meagher, G., Wilson, S., & Western, M., Phillips, T (Ed.), Australian Social Attitudes 2 : Citizenship, Work and Aspirations (pp. 262–285), Sydney: UNSW Press.
  • Meagher, G, Wilson, S. (2007). Are Unions Regaining Popular Legitimacy in Australia?. In Denemark, D., Meagher, G., Wilson, S., & Western, M., Phillips, T (Ed.), Australian social attitudes 2 : citizenship, work and aspirations (pp. 195–216), Sydney: UNSW Press.
  • Meagher, G. (2007). Contested, Corporatised and Confused? Australian Attitudes to Child Care. In Elizabeth Hill, Barbara Pocock and Alison Elliott (Eds.), Kids Count: Better early childhood education and care in Australia (pp. 137–153), Sydney: Sydney University Press.

Journal articles

  • Cortis, N and Meagher, G. (2009). Women, Work and Welfare in the Activation State: An Agenda for Australian Research. Australian Bulletin of Labour, 35(4), 629–651.
  • Tham, P, Meagher, G. (2009). Working in Human Services: How Do Experiences and Working Conditions in Child Welfare Social Work Compare?. British Journal of Social Work, 39(5), 807–827.
  • Healy, K, Meagher, G, Cullin, J. (2009). Retaining Novices to Become Expert Child Protection Practitioners: Creating Career Pathways in Direct Practice. British Journal of Social Work, 39(2), 299–317. DOI:doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm125
  • Meagher, G, Wilson, S. (2008). Richer, But More Unequal: Perceptions of Inequality in Australia 1987-2005. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 61, 220–243.
  • Healy, K, Meagher, G. (2007). Social Workers’ Preparation for Child Protection: Revisiting the Question of Specialisation. Australian Social Work, 60(3), 321–335.
  • Briggs, C, Meagher, G, Healy, K. (2007). Becoming an Industry: The Struggle of Social and Community Workers for Award Coverage, 1976-2001. Journal of Industrial Relations, 49(4), 497–521.
  • Meagher, G. (2007). The Challenge of the Care Workforce: Recent Trends and Emerging Problems. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 42(2), 151–167.
  • Meagher, G. (2006). What can we expect from paid carers?. Politics and Society, 34(1), 33–54.
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