Research

What topics does OPA research?

OPA usually draws on the expertise of its volunteers and staff in determining which topics to research, and then works with a range of people in conducting research. This can include people with disabilities, service providers, government departments and academics. The results of its research are presented in public presentations, in submissions, in reports, in discussion papers and in articles. Sometimes, OPA releases information directly to, and through, the mass media, and sometimes it raises matters directly with government and service providers.

Members of the Research and Policy Unit

The Policy and Research Unit is a small team that consists of the following experienced researchers:

John Chesterman is the Manager of Policy and Education. He has a law degree and a PhD and has written a number of books, including (as co-author) The Politics of Human Rights in Australia (Cambridge University Press 2009). John has worked in research positions at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Public Policy and at James Cook University’s School of Indigenous Australian Studies, and he was a lecturer in politics at the University of Melbourne from 2000 until 2009. He has been a volunteer Community Visitor with OPA since late 2005.

Liz Dearn is a policy and research worker with extensive experience in the community sector and local government. She brings knowledge and expertise in social policy and advocacy in areas including social exclusion, mental illness and homelessness. Research projects around these issues undertaken at OPA include submissions into Mental Health Reform and the Mental Health Act and the human rights of long-stay mental health patients.

Magdalena McGuire is a Research and Policy Officer. Magdalena completed a Bachelor of Law/Arts at Griffith University, Brisbane, and Masters of Public International Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. She is keenly interested in issues of social justice, law reform and the intersection between disability and human rights.

Lois Bedson is a Policy and Research Officer. She has almost ten years' research experience in both the community and government sectors, working on projects seeking responses to disadvantage and social exclusion. Lois is passionate about social justice and here at OPA she has undertaken work on civil detention, access to justice for people with cognitive impairment, and issues for residents of Supported Residential Services.

Mark Feigan first started with the Unit in 2005. After three years study, Mark has completed his PhD Candidature at La Trobe University in August 2010. His PhD thesis, the first comprehensive written history of OPA and the Community Visitors, is available to dowload here. His previous positions include managing Disability Justice Advocacy Inc, a community advocacy organisation, during the 1990s. He has also worked in Commonwealth Government disability program areas. He has a Master of Social Sciences (Policy and Human Services) RMIT. 

Claire Spivakovsky is a Policy and Research Officer. In 2009, Claire completed a PhD in Criminology at the University of Melbourne. Since this time, Claire has worked in both the academic and community sectors conducting research into issues of social exclusion and disadvantage.