Researcher biography

My work aims to ensure all children have access to safe, stable, violence-free childhoods they need to thrive in childhood and across life. This spans from extensive work on evidence-based parenting programs to major national epidemiological work on child maltreatment, corporal punishment (smacking) & mental health & wellbeing.

In 2023, I was a ministerial appointment to the Child Death Review Board which conducts systemic reviews of child deaths to identify areas to improve child safety in QLD. In 2024 the World Health Organisation appointed me to their international Technical Expert Group for Violence Against Children Estimations. I also serve on the Board of Directors for the Parenting & Family Researchers Alliance and on the editorial board of the Australian Journal of Social Issues a policy masthead.

As both a clinical psychologist and a research academic, I use a prevention lens to target risk and protective factors to enhance child and family wellbeing to reduce the presence and impact of early adversity & mental ill health. This includes a focus on parenting stress, family violence and maltreatment, and issues associated with balancing work and life.

I am a chief investigator on the Young Minds: Our Future study which is the Third Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, and I am part of the award-winning Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) team which generated the first nationally representative Australian data on the prevalence and mental health impact of the five types of child maltreatment in Australia.

As a researcher, I have received >$10 million in research funding and published extensively in leading D1 & Q1 journals. I am a sought-after speaker & frequently engage in science communication via the media across all platforms.