Meet the Researcher: Associate Professor Robyn Martin & Dr. Sonia Martin

Robyn: Robyn Martin commenced Social Work practice in 1990. Since that time, she has practised, taught and researched in trauma, violence, abuse, homelessness and critical mental health. Robyn is particularly interested in creating the conditions for the meaningful involvement of service users and their supporters in service delivery, research and teaching. She has co-led university-based projects which bring lived experience educators into the academy and in turn, influencing future health and human service graduates to value lived experience. Robyn is a critical social work academic and her research and teaching is informed by post-structuralist, feminist and intersectional theories and concepts.

Sonia: I am an academic member of staff working with colleagues in Social Work and Human Services (SWHS). My employment at RMIT includes 5 years as Program Director of the post-graduate and undergraduate social work degrees, extensive teaching in social policy, research and sociology, and work on a range of research projects. I currently coordinate the Social Work Honours research courses and a large first year introductory sociology subject.

My scholarly work is primarily concerned with poverty, inequality and social inclusion informed by a commitment to social justice. Building upon my PhD, my research interests are primarily on social policy issues and welfare reform and I continue to research in this field. My research highlights include work on several ARC grants, securing other competitive research grants and offering invitational presentations. Another highlight was being awarded a Human Rights Award (non-fiction) with a team of researchers inquiring and publishing on the lived experiences of welfare in Australia. In addition to my research into stigma and welfare, I am currently working on a range of initiatives aimed at developing innovative approaches to research translation to inform industry and teaching practices.

I have a strong commitment to advancing a higher education system committed to innovative research and teaching practices that are responsive to diverse student learning needs and to contemporary social, economic and environmental challenges.