Professor Ben Wadham

Ben is the Director of the Open Door: Improving the Wellbeing of Veterans, Public Safety Personnel and their Families research initiative in the College of Education, Psychology, and Social Work. Open Door is an Australasian research hub that brings together veterans, public safety personnel and their families, scholars, and practitioners together around key research, service provision, and policy/legislation initiatives. Open Door is connected to other veteran, public safety personnel and ther families research hubs across the five-eye nations.

As a Veteran, Ben's research is focused on the health and wellbeing of serving personnel and Veterans. He conducts sociological and criminological research on the ADF and DVA including institutional abuse in the ADF, veteran suicide, and veteran transition into higher education. Ben also researches men's violence prevention.

Ben writes about the cultural history of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). He is currently Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council Grant titled "Veteran Suicide" Investigating the Social and Historical Dimensions" and lead the first national study of "Institutional Abuse and Organisational Reform within the ADF (1969-). Ben has led numerous grants investigating veteran transition, education and recognition of prior learning. These studies explore how effective tertiary education is as a transition pathway. Ben is currently leading an Ben conceived of, and led, the development of the Military Academic Pathway Program (MAPP) at Flinders University, the only foundation course for veterans in Australia.