Matthew Flinders Professor
College of Business, Government and Law
Over the past 20 years, Gerry’s research has focused on marginalisation as experienced by young people in Australia and other countries – at school, with their peers, and in the community. He’s particularly interested in amplifying young people’s voices through his research and supporting them to talk about their lived experience. We hear very little from young people themselves about how their experiences impact the opportunities available to them, and what they do to protect themselves and their families from the effects of poverty and marginalisation.
Gerry’s research does not offer ‘easy fixes’ to these problems of marginalisation. The purpose of his research is to focus the attention of people with power - advocates, policymakers and practitioners in health, education, community services and local government - on what young people themselves see as the challenges in their lives, and supports to help them overcome these challenges.
Gerry is a sociologist and social policy analyst. Before coming to Flinders in 2012, he worked at the University of Cambridge (UK), UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (Italy) and the University of NSW. He has won over $5 million in funding, and has been Chief Investigator on six Australian Research Council (ARC) grants since 2009, most recently the Wellbeing in Adolescence project (2019-23) and the Opportunities and Contributions project (2023-26). He has authored over 50 journal articles, and has a Google Scholar H-index of 28. He has advised the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on child, youth, gender and family statistics. He was recently a member of the ARC College of Experts (2020-2022). Most importantly, he advocates for amplifying the voices of young people who are the least heard but who have the most to gain from policymakers and others in power hearing them.
Current and Recent Grants
Australian Research Council Discovery Project 'Young People with Disability & Young Carers: Opportunities and Contributions' 2023-2026 (Gerry Redmond, Joanne Arciuli, Sally Robinson, Eric Emerson) (A$386,000).
Australian Government Department of Health Child and Youth Health grant 'Supporting the mental health of young people with autism: responding to their perspectives on ‘what works’ to prevent bullying' 2020-2023 (Gerry Redmond, Sally Robinson, Phillip Slee) (A$117,131)
Australian Research Council Discovery Project 'Social exclusion in adolescence: risks, assets, experiences & policy action' 2019-2023 (Gerry Redmond, Fiona Brooks, Colin MacDougall, Pammi Raghavendra, Jennifer Skattebol). (A$437,088)
Australian Research Council Discovery Project 'Changing children’s chances: Exploring pathways to developmental inequities' 2016-2018 (Sharon Goldfeld, Frank Oberklaid, Gerry Redmond, et al.). (A$580,000)
UNICEF Malaysia (contract research) 'Child Disparities and Deprivation in Malaysia' 2015-2016 (Gerry Redmond, Noore Siddiquee and Rodrigo Praino) (a$118,196)
Australian Research Council and industry partners (Linkage scheme) 'Are the kids alright? Understanding the wellbeing of Australian children in their middle years' 2012-2015 (Gerry Redmond, Jennifer Skattebol and Peter Saunders, University of NSW) (A$1.4 million)
http://australianchildwellbeing.com.au/
Australian Research Council and industry partners (Linkage scheme) 'Supporting families: Horizontal and vertical equity in the Australian tax-benefit system in historical and comparative perspectives' 2010-2013 (Gerry Redmond and Peter Whiteford, University of NSW) ($428,000)
External positions
Member, Research Committee, Australian Research Alliance on Children and Youth (from 2022)
Adjunct Professor, Social Policy Research Centre, University of NSW (http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/ , from 2020)
Member, Australian Bureau of Statistics Gender and Family Statistics Advisory Groups (2011-2019)
Member, National Child and Youth Indicators Advisory Groups, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014-2020)
Discovery and Linkage Projects Grants Assessor, Australian Research Council
Professor, Public Policy, College of Business Government & Law
Recent media
Redmond, G (2022) Who Excludes? Young People’s Experience of Social Exclusion, The Social Policy Blog, 13 May 2022, https://socialpolicyblog.com/2022/05/13/who-excludes-young-peoples-experience-of-social-exclusion/
Redmond, G (2022) ‘I just go to school with no food’ – why Australia must tackle child poverty to improve educational outcomes, The Conversation, 10 March 2022. https://theconversation.com/i-just-go-to-school-with-no-food-why-australia-must-tackle-child-poverty-to-improve-educational-outcomes-178426
O’Donnell, A and G Redmond (2021) The kids who’d get the most out of extracurricular activities are missing out – here’s how to improve access, The Conversation, 18 October 2021. https://theconversation.com/the-kids-whod-get-the-most-out-of-extracurricular-activities-are-missing-out-heres-how-to-improve-access-169447
Hamilton, M and G Redmond (2019) One in 10 Aussie kids care for someone with a disability or drug dependence – they need help at school, The Conversation, 9 August 2019. https://theconversation.com/one-in-10-aussie-kids-care-for-someone-with-a-disability-or-drug-dependence-they-need-help-at-school-117900
Redmond, G and J Skattebol (2018) Young Australians’ prospects still come down to where they grow up, The Conversation, 17 September 2018. https://theconversation.com/young-australians-prospects-still-come-down-to-where-they-grow-up-102640
Redmond, G (2016) ‘How crucial are the middle years for child and youth development?’, ARACY Blog, https://www.aracy.org.au/blog/how-crucial-are-the-middle-years-for-child-and-youth-development
Redmond, G and R Praino (2016) ‘FactCheck: do welfare recipients owe the Australian government about $3.5 billion?’, The Conversation, 8 August 2016 https://theconversation.com/factcheck-do-welfare-recipients-owe-the-australian-government-about-3-5-billion-619065.
Redmond, G (2016) ‘High time we look at student wellbeing in the middle years’, Australian Teacher Magazine, April 2016. http://au.educationhq.com/news/34353/high-time-we-look-at-student-wellbeing-in-the-middle-years/#
Redmond, G (2015) 'How your parents' level of education affects your chances', The Conversation, 22 July 2015 https://theconversation.com/how-your-parents-level-of-education-affects-your-chances-44506
Redmond, G and J Skattebol (2014) 'Child Poverty: Keeping the Promise Alive', Insight (published by the Victorian Council of Social Service), Issue 9, January 2014, pp.38-39.