Dr Katherine McLachlan
Senior Lecturer
College of Business, Government and Law
Katherine has extensive experience working in the criminal justice system. She held lead policy and project roles in the SA Attorney-General’s Department, forensic mental health, Child Protection, Department for Correctional Services, Equal Opportunity Commission and SA Parliament. She was an Intelligence Analyst with the South Australia Police and the Sexual Assault Research Analyst at the Australian Institute of Criminology. She has also worked as the Quality and Research Manager for Victim Support Service. In 2015, she was appointed by the Minister for Correctional Services as the victim representative on the Parole Board of South Australia, and was re-appointed in 2018, 2021 and 2024.
Katherine completed an Honours Degree and a Research Masters in Laws at Flinders University, exploring police responses to women who had been raped. She also has an Honours degree in Psychology, exploring the prediction of violent recidivism by surveying people in prison. In 2010, she completed her Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice and is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia. Katherine has a PhD in Law, and was a 2018-2021 RTPd PhD Scholarship recipient.
In 2024, she was awarded Senior Fellowship, Advance HE. Senior Fellowship is awarded to professionals with a sustained record of leading or influencing the practice of those who teach, as well as effective and inclusive teaching practice that extends significantly beyond direct teaching.
In 2017, Katherine established UniSA’s Bachelor of Criminal Justice. She was awarded the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) Excellence in Teaching award (2019) with collaborators Rebecca Medhurst, Tracey Johnson and Ruth Fazakerley for this work.
Katherine is the Teaching Program Director in Criminology. She is responsible for developing, implementing, and reviewing learning and teaching initiatives and innovations within Criminology. She represents teaching, research, and engagement to external communities, including industry boards. In this role, Katherine ensures the quality and effective running of the BCrim. She oversees the design, delivery, and regular review of the teaching program to ensure that learning outcomes are met, students develop university graduate qualities, and their employability is maximised.
I am particulary interested in teaching topics related to victimology, trauma-informed criminal justice, sentencing and desistance, gendered violence and sexual assault, and evidence-informed criminal justice practices (rather than the over-use of incarceration).
I am currently a member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) and was previously the South Australia representative. I am a member of the International Society of Therapeutic Jurisprudence as well as the World Society of Victimology.
In 2021 and 2022, I was the Secretary for the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law (ANZAPPL) SA Branch and in 2024, I was a general member of the SA Committee.
In 2022, I joined the Board of OARS, Community Transitions.
I am also a co-founder of the Magnolia Project. In 2023-24, we won an Augusta Zadow award ($20,000) to support women and early career workers in the criminal justice system.
- Sentencing
- Trauma-informed practice
- Victims of Crime
Sturt Rd, Bedford Park
South Australia 5042
South Australia | Northern Territory
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