Research in the Faculty of Business, Law and Arts

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We have a vibrant research community of academics from across the Business, Law and Arts spectrum.

The Faculty of Business, Law and Arts leads groundbreaking research in critical areas that impact society. Our research concentrations focus on:

  • Digital Horizons: Innovation, Security, and Society: exploring the transformative impacts of digital technology, information systems, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and digital marketing.
  • Eco-Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Public Value Systems: supporting the shift to circular economies, supporting sustainable regional development, SMEs and stakeholder engagement and promoting public values and corporate governance.
  • Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence: led by the Law Discipline and connecting with the Centre for Children and Young People and external community, government and university partners, this concentration seeks to promote justice and harm reduction related to domestic and family situations.

Our Faculty addresses pressing issues through interdisciplinary collaboration in these research concentrations. This holistic approach not only enhances academic rigor but also ensures practical applications that benefit communities. The integration of these themes underscores our commitment to fostering innovation, promoting justice, and driving sustainable economic and social development.

Business

We collaborate with industry, government and partner organisations locally, around Australia and globally, to create sustainable solutions for contemporary problems through our expertise in sustainability, entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, collaborative practice, public policy and administration and corporate governance.

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Arts

We publish and exhibit widely and are highly socially and culturally engaged. We are practicing artists and musicians who work with both local and distant communities and speak at scholarly and community forums in our campus regions, across the country and around the globe.

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Law

We tackle societal challenges of equity, safety and justice to foster harm reduction particularly in the context of families and vulnerable people. Together with community and government organisations as well as national and international research collaborations, we facilitate empirical and applied research while actively engaging with societal priority areas.

Chair of Law, Associate Professor David Heilpern during a mock trial

Our Faculty Researchers

 

Name Discipline Key Words Research Profile
Associate Professor Georgina Dimopoulos Law Family law | Children's rights | Privacy | Family violence | Human rights | Medical and health law Go to Georgina's Research Profile
Associate Professor Jennifer Nielsen Law Law | Law and Society | Legal Practice, Lawyering and the Legal Profession | Indigenous Peoples and law | Discrimination law | Race | Whiteness and colonialism | Workplace law | Access to justice Go to Jennifer's Research Profile
Dr Meri Oakwood Law Environmental law | Ecology | Property law | Human rights | Criminal law Go to Meri's Research Profile
Dr Rohan Price Law Political philosophy | Comparative legal history | Nietzsche | Heiddegger studies | Comparative organics regulation Go to Rohan's Research Profile
Dr Jessica Schaffer Law Legal frameworks in sexual assault | Cultural dynamics of rape myths and victimisation  
Dr Brendan Walker-Munro Law Cybersecurity and privacy | Military law and justice | Research security | National security Go to Brendan's Research Profile

 

Name Discipline Key Words Research Profile
Professor Yvonne Brunetto Management Business and Management | Policy and Administration | Management | Policy and administration | Corporate governance and stakeholder engagement Go to Yvonne's Research Profile
Professor Michael Ewing Management Marketing communications | Strategy | Brand management | Health promotion | Marketing technology Go to Mike's Research Profile
Professor Robyn Keast Management Business and Management | Education Systems | Policy and Administration | Networked arrangements | Collaborative practice | Regional development Go to Robyn's Research Profile
Professor Darshana Sedera Management Entrepreneurship | Information Systems | Innovation | Impact of digital technology Go to Darshana's Research Profile
Associate Professor Michael Charles Management Public policy and management | Public values and infrastructures | Future of higher education | Ancient history | Military history Go to Michael's Research Profile
Associate Professor Pascal Scherrer Management Sustainability | Tourism | Visitor management | Regional development | Circular economy | Plastic waste Go to Pascal's Research Profile
Dr Holly Cooper Management    
Dr Siqi Gao Management Digital innovation | digital transformation strategies | gaming experiences | online behaviours  
Dr Jennifer Harrison Management Business and Management | Finance | Accounting | Financial literacy and education Go to Jennifer's Research Profile
Dr Owen Hogan Management Strategy, management and organisational behaviour | Innovation management | Entrepreneurship | Consumer-oriented product or service development Go to Owen's Research Profile
Dr Scott Niblock Management Funds performance | Behavioural finance | Responsible investing | Financial wellbeing | Financial advice seeking Go to Scott's Research Profile
Dr Simon Wilde Management Marketing | Digital marketing | Internet studies | e-commerce Go to Simon's Research Profile



 

Name Discipline Key Words Research Profile
Associate Professor Wes Hill Creative Arts Art History | Art Theory and Criticism | Visual Cultures | Research-based art | Education systems | Creative arts, media and communication curriculum and pedagogy Go to Wes' Research Profile
Associate Professor Annie Mitchell Creative Arts Music | Music Composition | Arts and humanities | Classical music | Musical analysis | Theory and history Go to Annie's Research Profile
Dr Leigh Carriage Creative Arts Music Composition | Music Performance | Performing arts | Songwriting | Practice-based research | Collaborative recording | Women in music | Improvisation Go to Leigh's Research Profile
Dr Barry Hill Creative Arts Music Performance | Popular music culture | Performance practice | Audio technology | Musicology | sustainable technology | Electrical energy generation (incl. renewables, excl. photovoltaics) | science communication Go to Barry's Research Profile
Dr Marian Tubbs Creative Arts Contemporary art | Continental philosophy | Ecologies | Digital practice | Assemblages | Virtual and augmented reality | Intersectional studies | Painting  | Sculpture | Installation Art Go to Marian's Research Profile
Jeanti St Clair Creative Arts Communication and Media Studies | Journalism and Professional Writing | Locative media | Audio documentary | Journalism education | Journalism ethics | creative recovery Go to Jeanti's Research Profile



Higher Degree Research Students

 

Name Discipline HDR Program Research Topic Primary Supervisor Research Profile
Eliza Hew Law PhD The role of therapeutic jurisprudence in post-separation parenting disputes involving family violence in Australia's family courts. Associate Professor Georgina Dimopoulos Go to Eliza's research profile
Richard Stewart Law PhD The Rationality of Property Associate Professor Michael Charles Go to Richard's research profile

 

Name Discipline HDR Program Research Topic Primary Supervisor Research Profile
Marisha Ewart Management PhD Business Practices for Effective Marine Conservation Associate Professor Pascal Scherrer  
Amanda Scott Management PhD Built to Last: The Role of Network Resilience in Sustaining Project-based Networks Professor Robyn Keast Go to Amanda's research profile
Mahikala Walakada Appuhamilage Management PhD The Impact of Digitalization on Status Quo Bias: A Longitudinal Study Professor Darshana Sedera  
Linda Wasiela Management PhD The Future of Regional Airports in Australia Associate Professor Michael Charles  
Hasini Balage Management Masters by Thesis Influence of AI in Organizational Knowledge Management Initiatives Professor Darshana Sedera Go to Hasini's research profile
Amanda Madhubhashini Balasooriya Balasooriya Mudiyanselage Management Masters by Thesis Exploring Behavioural Intention towards Artificial Intelligence Professor Darshana Sedera Go to Amanda's research profile
Anuradha Colombage Management Masters by Thesis Exploring the Role of Technology in Enhancing Supply Chain Innovation for Environmental Sustainability Professor Darshana Sedera Go to Anuradha's research profile
Zeljko Deban Management Masters by Thesis Does psychological capital mediate the relationship between leadership and employee wellbeing, engagement and intention to leave Professor Yvonne Brunetto  
Buddhika Kaluarachchi Management Masters by Thesis Digital Technology Readiness in the Financial Management Sector Professor Darshana Sedera  

Research Showcase

Creating Sustainable Visitor Experiences

This project identified visitor preferences for alternative experiences to summiting Wollumbin to facilitate more diverse regional tourism experiences and to address the significant site limitations of this World Heritage Area.

Read more
Wollumbin

The Sunflower Mobile Solar Energy Project

The Southern Cross University ‘Sunflower’ Mobile Solar Energy Project is a creative interdisciplinary technology project that aims to demonstrate the potential of emerging battery and solar energy technology and enhance community understanding of electricity and sustainable energy use.

Read more
The sunflower solar energy project prototype with a crowd of people attending and event - credit Woodford Folk Festival

Black Soldier Fly Project

Black soldier flies at the heart of regenerative business models for a zero-waste future. Researchers at Southern Cross University, Dr Owen Hogan, Professor Nigel Andrew and Dr Lachlan Yee, are investigating how black soldier fly farming can transform organic waste into valuable resources such as protein, oils, chitin and frass.

Read more
Black Soldier Fly research project image

Children’s Voices for Change

The ‘Children’s Voices for Change’ project applied a children's rights-based approach to understand what constitutes effective supports for children and pre-adolescents aged up to 13 years as victim-survivors of family violence in their own right.

Read more
artistic image - related to Children’s Voices for Change

This project identified visitor preferences for alternative experiences to summiting Wollumbin to facilitate more diverse regional tourism experiences and to address the significant site limitations of this World Heritage Area.

The project team worked closely with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and engaged with key stakeholders to identify a range of potentially suitable alternative nature-based visitor experiences. From this, experience scenarios were developed to then test the preferences of potential visitors, ultimately leading to substantial state government investment to establish the Gidjuum Gulganyi Walk.

  • Check out the project overview
  • Read the reports: Identifying visitor preferences for alternative experiences to summiting Wollumbin (Mt Warning)

Executive summary of reports 1-3

Final report 1 of 3: tourism and recreation planning initiatives 1994-2014

Final report 2 of 3: stakeholder interviews

Final report 3 of 3: Findings from a survey with potential visitors to test alternative scenarios

  • Read the papers:

Demarketing an iconic national park experience: receptiveness of past,current and potential visitors to selected strategies

To climb or not to climb? Balancing stakeholder priorities at an iconic national park

Assessing preferences of potential visitors for nature-based experiences in protected areas

The Southern Cross University ‘Sunflower’ Mobile Solar Energy Project is a creative interdisciplinary technology project that aims to demonstrate the potential of emerging battery and solar energy technology and enhance community understanding of electricity and sustainable energy use.

Read more about the 'Sunflower' Mobile Solar Energy Project, including the project's sustainable goals, history, FAQs, and more.

Black soldier flies at the heart of regenerative business models for a zero-waste future. Researchers at Southern Cross University, Dr Owen Hogan, Professor Nigel Andrew and Dr Lachlan Yee, are investigating how black soldier fly farming can transform organic waste into valuable resources such as protein, oils, chitin and frass. 

Beyond waste management, this international work explores regenerative business models that create local value, restore ecological balance, and drive circular economy transitions. This project is part of the ZeroWaste Research Cluster.

View YouTube video -  https://youtu.be/AAlIwWMNnmg?si=4hB3H_R6RNQDAnO9

 

The ‘Children’s Voices for Change’ project applied a children's rights-based approach to understand what constitutes effective supports for children and pre-adolescents aged up to 13 years as victim-survivors of family violence in their own right.

The project engaged with children and young people as family violence experts by experience – as research participants and co-researchers – to build a knowledge and evidence base that strengthens understandings of the diversity and distinctiveness of children’s experiences of family violence, and the effectiveness of services in meeting their needs.

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