I am a postdoctoral research fellow in the School for Global Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University. My research explores how community groups function in contemporary cities and how this is influenced by interventions such as funding regimes, participatory citizenship mechanisms, digital technologies and grassroots place-making initiatives. I approach communities as constantly emerging and changing configurations that are co-constituted by the material environment, discourse, social practice and non-human others and objects. My aim is to emphasize both the exclusionary and inclusive potential of community groups, and to reveal how and when the discourses and policies of ‘community’ serve select groups.

I am currently working with neighbourhood centres (also called neighbourhood houses or community centres) across Australia to analyse how policy and funding changes are impacting on the ways these organisations do their work and how centres’ changing ways of working affect different user groups, and their health and wellbeing.

I also continue to work with colleagues in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne to analyse social housing tenants’ access to digital devices and internet connections. While internet access is widely recognised as an essential services, people on low incomes continue to experience barriers to accessing reliable and affordable internet connections. Our research is strengthening the evidence base for ongoing advocacy on this important issue.

The projects and publications pages offer more detailed information about my current and past work.