Overview
Background
Zoe Staines (she/her) is Senior Lecturer and Director of Research in the School of Social Science at The University of Queensland. Her deeply interdisciplinary research spans social policy, sociology, and criminology, examining gender and work, care, welfare conditionality, and (de)coloniality with particular attention to structural injustice. She has published four books (including with leading publishers, Routledge and Policy Press) and dozens of journal articles, 85% of which are in Q1 journals and 21% of which are in journals ranked well within the top 10% globally (e.g., Policy Studies–top 2%, Sociology–top 4%). Her research has received multiple prizes and awards, including an ARC DECRA (2020-2023), the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology's 'best book in criminology' prize (2025), the John Mayer best article in Aus Journal of Political Science prize (2022), a Whitlam Institute Research Fellowship (2023), and UQ's competitive Foundation Research Excellence Award (2023).
Zoe is an elected board member for Australia's national Council for Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS), Chair of the Organising Committee for the 2026 Australian Social Policy Conference, Deputy Chair of the Australian Basic Income Lab, and an invited mentor for the International Association for Feminist Economics where she works with a group of eight mentees from across the Asia-Pacific region. She also served as Associate Editor and then Co-Editor of the Australian Journal of Social Issues (Q1) between 2019-2025. Before entering academia, Zoe held senior research and policy roles in government and the non-profit sector, and she remains committed to research with translational impact on policy and practice.
Zoe is recipient of a 2024 Australian Award for University Teaching (AAUT) and a 2023 UQ Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, for 'co-creating imaginative, innovative, and engaging new resources for social science students to become effective social change agents'. She teaches into UQ's Bachelor of Social Science, Bachelor of Arts, and Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, while also sitting on the Bachelor of Social Science Program Committee. Zoe also currently supervises nine PhD students undertaking projects that span welfare conditionality, social policy, social housing, gender and work, work platformisation, artificial intelligence and future of work, and international human rights and law. She has been twice nominated for a UQ School of Social Science Excellence in Research Mentorship award.
Availability
- Dr Zoe Staines is:
- Not available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Queensland University of Technology
Research interests
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Gender and work
My research on gender and work explores how labour markets, welfare systems, and care arrangements shape women's economic security, safety, and freedom, with particular attention to how care is (de)valued, (un)supported, and (unfairly) shared. My recent book Securing Women's Economic Security, Safety, and Freedom (Routledge, 2025) makes the case for fairer alternatives like universal basic income. I'm now extending this work to gender, power, and violence within platformised care.
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Welfare conditionality
My research on welfare conditionality examines what happens when access to social security is tied to behavioural requirements, like compulsory income management and work-for-the-dole, and who bears the consequences. My co-authored book Compulsory Income Management in Australia and New Zealand: More Harm Than Good? (Policy Press, 2022) shows how these policies deepen disadvantage, disproportionately affect women and First Nations communities, and rarely deliver on their promised outcomes.
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(Universal) Basic Income
My research on universal basic income (UBI) explores its potential as a fairer, more trusting foundation for economic support, particularly for women poorly served by existing welfare systems. My recent book 'Securing Women's Economic Security, Safety, and Freedom: The Role of Universal Basic Income in Australia' (Routledge, 2025) examines how an unconditional, regular payment could strengthen women's economic security, support care work, and advance equality, dignity, and freedom.
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Critical criminology
My research in critical criminology questions how crime, justice, and policing are defined and practised, and whose interests these systems serve. My co-authored book Island Criminology (Bristol University Press, 2023), winner of the 2025 Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Best Book Prize, and related work on policing, First Nations overrepresentation, and the criminalisation of poverty, explore how colonial histories and structural inequalities shape who is policed, punished, and protected.
Research impacts
Zoe's work sits in the top 7% of scholars globally in her fields (ScholarGPS), with citations surging more than 500% in the past five years and spanning 41 countries and 160+ institutions across disciplines including social policy, gender studies, computer science, and business. Beyond academia, her research has been cited in 40+ parliamentary Hansards and inquiries, including the federal bills digest for caregiving legislative amendments, the ACT Legislative Assembly Inquiry into Unpaid Work, and Productivity Commission reports. Her partnership with the Australian Human Rights Commission generated world-first data on Indigenous women's caregiving, described by Indigenous Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO [Bunuba] as a "crucial call to action". A co-designed intervention she led has also supported 150+ Indigenous mothers to (re)engage with education and employment. Her lead-authored critical social sciences textbook, the first of its kind in Australia, has been adopted in 20+ countries and received UQ (2023) and Universities Australia (2024) teaching excellence awards. Her public scholarship has reached over 77,000 readers through The Conversation and generated dozens of national media appearances on outlets including ABC TV and Radio National, SBS National Radio, and NITV.
Works
Search Professor Zoe Staines’s works on UQ eSpace
2021
Journal Article
Examining the adverse consequences of welfare conditionality: a case study of compulsory income management in the regional community of Ceduna, Australia
Roche, Steven, Mendes, Philip, Marston, Greg, Bielefeld, Shelley, Peterie, Michelle, Staines, Zoe and Humpage, Louise (2021). Examining the adverse consequences of welfare conditionality: a case study of compulsory income management in the regional community of Ceduna, Australia. Social Policy and Society, 21 (3), 1-16. doi: 10.1017/S1474746421000063
2021
Journal Article
Crime, justice and social capital in the Torres Strait region
Scott, John, Staines, Zoe and Morton, James (2021). Crime, justice and social capital in the Torres Strait region. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice (620) 620, 1-13.
2021
Journal Article
Workfare and food in remote Australia: 'I haven't eaten... I'm really at the end...'
Staines, Zoe and Smith, Kiah (2021). Workfare and food in remote Australia: 'I haven't eaten... I'm really at the end...'. Critical Policy Studies, 16 (1), 36-59. doi: 10.1080/19460171.2021.1893198
2021
Journal Article
Is conditional welfare an effective means for reducing alcohol and drug abuse? An exploration of compulsory income management across four Australian trial sites
Mendes, Philip, Roche, Steven, Marston, Greg, Bielefeld, Shelley, Peterie, Michelle, Staines, Zoe and Humpage, Louise (2021). Is conditional welfare an effective means for reducing alcohol and drug abuse? An exploration of compulsory income management across four Australian trial sites. Australian Journal of Political Science, 56 (2), 1-18. doi: 10.1080/10361146.2021.1884646
2021
Journal Article
Australia’s remote workfare policy: rhetoric versus reality of ‘community’ empowerment
Staines, Zoe (2021). Australia’s remote workfare policy: rhetoric versus reality of ‘community’ empowerment. Critical Social Policy, 41 (1), 4-24. doi: 10.1177/0261018319897056
2021
Other Outputs
Guiding principles for a new livelihood and work program in remote Indigenous Australia
Staines, Zoe, Altman, Jon, Klein, Elise and Markham, Francis (2021). Guiding principles for a new livelihood and work program in remote Indigenous Australia. The Australia Institute 'Remote Access' Research Report Series Canberra, ACT, Australia: The Australia Institute.
2021
Journal Article
Strong communities and justice practices in the Torres Strait
Scott, John, Staines, Zoe and Morton, James (2021). Strong communities and justice practices in the Torres Strait. Journal of Sociology, 59 (1) 144078332110312, 1-21. doi: 10.1177/14407833211031299
2021
Conference Publication
Punitive webs of welfare conditionality and worsening health/wellbeing in remote Australia
Staines, Zoe (2021). Punitive webs of welfare conditionality and worsening health/wellbeing in remote Australia. Healthy Societies 2021, Sydney, NSW Australia, 16 November 2021.
2021
Conference Publication
More welfare cash is associated with lower crime: COVID-19 social security changes and crime in remote Indigenous communities in Queensland (Australia)
Staines, Zoe and Zahnow, Renee (2021). More welfare cash is associated with lower crime: COVID-19 social security changes and crime in remote Indigenous communities in Queensland (Australia). Australian National University Centre for Social Research & Methods Research Symposium, Canberra, ACT Australia, 26 May 2021.
2021
Book Chapter
Losing sight: social security policy in Australia
Marston, Greg and Staines, Zoe (2021). Losing sight: social security policy in Australia. Social policy in Australia: understanding for action. (pp. 214-237) edited by Alison McLelland, Paul Smyth and Greg Marston. Docklands, VIC, Australia: Oxford University Press.
2021
Other Outputs
Submission to the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) Indigenous Digital Inclusion Plan
Staines, Zoe and Radke, Amelia (2021). Submission to the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) Indigenous Digital Inclusion Plan. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet.
2020
Conference Publication
Moving away from punitive 'workfare' in remote Australia, but headed in which direction?
Staines, Zoe (2020). Moving away from punitive 'workfare' in remote Australia, but headed in which direction?. TASA: Sociological insights for the now normal, Melbourne, Australia, 23-26 November 2020.
2020
Journal Article
Governing poverty: compulsory income management and crime in Australia
Staines, Zoe, Marston, Greg, Bielefeld, Shelley, Humpage, Louise, Mendes, Philip and Peterie, Michelle (2020). Governing poverty: compulsory income management and crime in Australia. Critical Criminology, 29 (4), 745-761. doi: 10.1007/s10612-020-09532-2
2020
Other Outputs
Food, work and sovereignty
Smith, Kiah and Staines, Zoe (2020, 10 19). Food, work and sovereignty The Sociological Review Blog
2020
Journal Article
The social harms outweigh the benefits: a study of compulsory income management in Greater Shepparton and Playford
Mendes, Philip, Roche, Steven, Marston, Greg, Peterie, Michelle, Staines, Zoe and Humpage, Louise (2020). The social harms outweigh the benefits: a study of compulsory income management in Greater Shepparton and Playford. Australian Social Work, 76 (1), 1-15. doi: 10.1080/0312407x.2020.1820536
2020
Journal Article
Big data and poverty governance under Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand's "social investment" policies
Staines, Zoe, Moore, Charlotte, Marston, Greg and Humpage, Louise (2020). Big data and poverty governance under Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand's "social investment" policies. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 56 (2) ajs4.129, 1-16. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.129
2020
Other Outputs
The 'hidden costs' of compulsory income management
Peterie, Michelle, Marston, Greg, Mendes, Philip, Bielefeld, Shelley, Staines, Zoe and Roche, Steven (2020, 08 12). The 'hidden costs' of compulsory income management Social Security Rights Review
2020
Journal Article
Crime rates and justice innovations in the Torres Strait Islands
Scott, John, Staines, Zoe and Morton, James (2020) Crime rates and justice innovations in the Torres Strait Islands. Centre for Justice Briefing Paper, 5: 1-4.
2020
Journal Article
The complexity of convergence: a multi-dimensional analysis of compulsory income management and social investment in New Zealand and Australia
Humpage, Louise, Staines, Zoe, Marston, Greg, Peterie, Michelle, Mendes, Philip and Bielefeld, Shelley (2020). The complexity of convergence: a multi-dimensional analysis of compulsory income management and social investment in New Zealand and Australia. Policy Studies, 43 (4), 1-20. doi: 10.1080/01442872.2020.1783439
2020
Journal Article
Charting the place of islands in criminology: on isolation, integration and insularity
Scott, John and Staines, Zoe (2020). Charting the place of islands in criminology: on isolation, integration and insularity. Theoretical Criminology, 25 (4), 136248062091025-600. doi: 10.1177/1362480620910250
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Zoe Staines is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Conceptions and experiences of home under residualisation in Brisbane¿s social housing
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lynda Cheshire
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Doctor Philosophy
Moving beyond incarceration: Exploring the intentions and impacts of legal debt collection policies on socially-disadvantaged groups in Queensland, Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Lynda Shevellar
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Doctor Philosophy
From Access to Advancement: Exploring Women's Career Trajectories within Bangladesh's Digitally Transforming Banking Sector
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
The Liminal Place: Exploring the experiences of residents in two rural Australian border communities during the COVID-19 pandemic
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Cameron Parsell
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Doctor Philosophy
Assessing AI Use In The Australian Welfare System
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Greg Marston, Dr Luke Munn
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Doctor Philosophy
The Construction of Justice for Victims of Sexualised War Violence
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Joseph Lelliott, Associate Professor Suzanna Fay
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Doctor Philosophy
The Creation of Terrorists and Mass Shooters: A Comparative Analysis of Mass Shooting Events in America and New Zealand
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Suzanna Fay
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Doctor Philosophy
A Qualitative Life Course Study on Extremely Poor Couples with Controlled Fertility Behaviours: The Case of Timorese Couples
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Stefanie Plage
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Doctor Philosophy
Older private renters and evictions in Queensland, Australia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lynda Cheshire
Media
Enquiries
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