Western Sydney University celebrates Spring graduation

Ceremony 1 – Saturday, 26 October – 9:30am

Professor Katherine Gibson

Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University

Professor Gibson will be accorded the title of Emeritus Professor and will deliver the occasional address.

Professor Gibson is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning economic geographer who pioneered innovative research on economic transformations and community economies. She was a Professor of Geography at Western Sydney University from 2009 until her retirement in June 2024.

Professor Gibson joined Western Sydney University in 2009 as a Professorial Research Fellow in the Centre for Citizenship and Public Policy and led the Community Economies Initiative in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts. She moved to the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) in 2013, where she was a foundational member of the Institute’s national profile in the discipline of Geography.

During her tenure at Western Sydney University, Professor Gibson held many roles, including as Deputy Director of ICS from 2019 to 2022, co-leader of the ICS Community Economies Strategic Initiative from 2015 to 2024, Deputy Chair of the ICS Cities and Economies Research Theme from 2014 to 2020, a member of the ICS Executive, most recently from 2019 to 2022, co-organiser of the ICS seminar series, most recently from 2020 to 2022 and a member of University Academic Development Program Committee from 2015 to 2017.

Professor Gibson spearheaded teaching and training initiatives at Western Sydney University, including co-teaching a PhD Graduate course Rethinking Economy for the Anthropocene, and a Masters by Research Elective Space, Place and the Field. She also led the PhD Graduate intensive course Research Postcapitalist Possibilities PhD Summer School, with the proceeds used to support a PhD scholarship in the Institute of Culture and Society. Professor Gibson’s expertise and international reputation attracted research students to the University, and she supervised ten Higher Degree Research students to completion during her tenure.

Professor Gibson has an exemplary academic record and secured nine Australian Research Council grants during her career. She is held in global esteem for her research on economic transformation that was based on working with communities to build resilient economies, and is recognised by her colleagues for her commitment to equity and regional development. Professor Gibson consistently focussed on developing research projects that engage with the Western Sydney community. Her research on reconfiguring manufacturing enterprises, cooling the commons, and making social housing climate friendly all involved significant collaborations with organisations in the region.

Professor Gibson has published extensively, penning over 100 chapters and 80 journals prior to her retirement. Alongside her single-authored articles, she published with the disruptive joint pen-name of J.K. Gibson-Graham, a collective authorial presence she shares with the late Julie Graham. Professor Gibson also produced a 60-minute documentary with colleague Professor Juan Francisco Salazar entitled The Bamboo Bridge that explored the intricacies of traditional forms of sustainable living.

Professor Gibson’s record of distinction includes visiting fellowships at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand; Aarhus University, Denmark; and the University of

Hamburg, Germany. In 2005, Professor Gibson was elected to the Australian Academy of Social Sciences and in 2010, she was jointly awarded the Australia-International Medal from the Institute of Australian Geographers. Professor Gibson received the Association of American Geographers Distinguished Scholarship Honors in 2018 and was elected as a Corresponding Fellow for the British Academy in 2021. She was the Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University in 2022.

Professor Gibson was a Founding member of the Community Economies Research Network in 2012, and the Community Economies Institute in 2019.

Ceremony 2 – Saturday, 26 October – 12:00pm

Emeritus Professor Mandy Thomas

Anthropologist and Emeritus Professor, Queensland University of Technology

Professor Thomas will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters and will deliver the occasional address.

Emeritus Professor Mandy Thomas is an Anthropologist and Emeritus Professor at the Queensland University of Technology. She has conducted research in the disciplines of Anthropology and Asian cultural studies and into community organisations in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland, and has also contributed significantly to University leadership and governance in Australia.

Prior to her retirement in 2020, Professor Thomas spent 7 years as the Executive Dean of the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology. She was also Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research and Research Training, at the Australian National University (ANU) from 2007-2013; Executive Director, Humanities and Creative Arts at the Australian Research Council from 2004-2006; Deputy Director, Centre for Cross-Cultural Research at ANU from 2002-2004; and Deputy Director of the Institute for Cultural Research at Western Sydney University from 2000 to 2002.

Professor Thomas grew up in Western Sydney and has maintained a strong connection to the region throughout her career. She is well-known for her extensive ethnographic research with Vietnamese migrants in Western Sydney and in Vietnam - her PhD thesis focussed on Vietnamese migrants in Cabramatta and resulted in one of the first ever books on the Vietnamese migrant experience in Australia: Dreams in the Shadows: Vietnamese-Australian lives in Transition. In 2002, Professor Thomas published her monograph, Moving Landscapes, which argued for the Vietnamese community use and imaginations of parks in Western Sydney. The impactful work culminated in a publication with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, a consultancy with Fairfield Council on the redesign of Cabramatta public square and an assessment of Vietnamese outworkers program for the Department of Industrial Relations and Australian National Committee for Refugee Women.

Professor Thomas is a proud and committed supporter of Western Sydney University and she has played a seminal role in the development of the University’s research culture over the past 27 years. She began her career in 1997 as a postdoctoral research fellow in the University’s Research Centre in Intercommunal Studies - an early manifestation of the Institute for Culture and Society – and in 2000, Professor Thomas became the first researcher at Western Sydney University to secure an Australian Research Council postdoctoral fellowship. In 2002, she received a Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Award for Regional and Community Partnerships, and she has continued to support the University as her vast experience across higher education in Australia has expanded. She was an external Advisory Board member for the Institute of Culture and Society from 2012 to 2018, and Chair of its Advisory Board from 2019 to 2020.

In addition to her own research, Professor Thomas has held several high-profile posts that have helped to shape the higher education research landscape across Australia, including as Secretary for the Deans of Social Sciences and Humanities, Chair of the Arts Queensland Organisations Funding Scheme and Vice President of the Australian Anthropological Society. Professor Thomas was also a committee member for the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Code of Research Ethics review.

Beyond academic venues, Professor Thomas co-curated Generate: The Art of Migration Heritage at the Powerhouse Museum and VietPop: Vietnamese youth popular culture at the Liverpool Museum. She has also published an exhibition catalogue on 'The history of Vietnamese Migration to Australia' in Celebrating 25 years of Vietnamese Settlement in Australia and contributed to the film Parra: its not where you're from, it where you're at.

Ceremony 3 – Saturday, 26 October – 2:30pm

Mr Phil Burton OAM

Australian Entertainer and Musician

Mr Burton will be awarded an Honorary Fellowship and will deliver the occasional address.

Phil Burton is a successful Australian entertainer and a co-founder and member of pop vocal group “Human Nature”. For over three decades, Phil has had a substantial presence in the entertainment industry both in Australia and internationally. A former student of Western Sydney University, Phil studied in the first cohort of first-year music students who commenced in 1994, completing his first year of study before Human Nature was launched onto the international stage.

Phil attended Hurlstone Agricultural High School in the Western Sydney suburb of Glenfield, where he and fellow students Andrew Tierney, Michael Tierney and Toby Allen, formed a vocal group called “The 4 Trax”. As The 4 Trax, the group went from busking in the streets of Sydney to winning three awards for excellence in live performance, in the Sydney club scene.

In 1995, The 4 Trax performed an a cappella version of “People Get Ready” to key staff in the Sony Music Boardroom and were signed on the spot. It was upon signing with Sony, that the band changed their name to Human Nature.

Human Nature’s illustrious and ongoing 35-year career has seen them release 13 studio albums which have yielded 27 platinum awards, 19 top 40 singles, five top 10 worldwide hits, and album sales over 2.5 million in Australia alone. They also completed an 11-year, 2500-show residency at the Imperial Palace and Venetian casinos in Las Vegas.

After returning to Australia in late 2020, Phil has been in high demand across various media and entertainment platforms. He works regular shifts at radio and is the go-to fill in co-host on Channel 7’s “The Morning Show”. Phil can also be seen as a presenter on the current series of travel show “The Great Outdoors”. Having been crowned the winner of “Celebrity Mastermind” in 2021, and also taking home the mirrorball trophy as champion of “Dancing With The Stars” in 2023, he is a constant feature on our TV screens. In addition, Phil has been performing live with his own popular “Sweet Soul Music” solo shows, and just finished a 6-week national tour as MC and guest vocalist for the iconic dance show “Burn The Floor”. He also continues to perform as a member of Human Nature at all their Australian shows and will be touring nationally in March / April 2025 as part of the group’s MTWN 20 shows, celebrating 20 years since the release of the most successful album of their career - their first Motown album.

In 2019, Human Nature were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. That same year, Phil and his fellow band members were each awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to charity, entertainment and the arts.

Ceremony 4 – Saturday, 26 October – 5:00pm

Mr Elie Chami

Founder and Chairman, Vitex Pharmaceuticals

Mr Chami will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters and will deliver the occasional address.

Mr Elie Chami is the founder and current Chairman of Vitex Pharmaceuticals, a global leader in the manufacture of listed medicinal products, based in Western Sydney. As a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, and community leader, Mr Chami has been a key figure for the diverse, multicultural communities of Western Sydney, of which he has steadfastly supported over the past 30 years.

Mr Chami arrived in Australia in the 1970’s as a migrant from post-war Lebanon and settled in Fairfield in Sydney’s west. In 1989, Mr Chami established a modest family business based in Western Sydney that offered the regional supply of solid dose listed medicines, predominately from the complementary medicine class of medicines in Australia.

Today, Vitex Pharmaceuticals is a global leader in the development, manufacture, packaging and supply of pharmaceuticals, operating out of a $100 million purpose-built advanced manufacturing facility in Eastern Creek and employing over 400 staff, including graduates from Western Sydney University. The business is an important cornerstone in the Western Sydney economy, driving technological advancements that aim to improve the health and wellbeing of people all over the world.

In the last five years, Vitex Pharmaceuticals has significantly upgraded its manufacturing capacity and capabilities, allowing Vitex to become Australia’s largest contract development manufacturer of vitamins, minerals, and nutritional supplements, with an international market that spans the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America.

Mr Chami’s extraordinary vision and individual contributions have been central to Vitex’s continual evolution, growth and global success. He is an inspirational leader who maintains a hands-on approach in the company, taking pride in working closely with engineers and product developers.

Mr Chami has been unwavering in his belief in the potential of Western Sydney and its people. As Chairman of Vitex Pharmaceuticals, he has committed to providing employment, training and professional development opportunities for people in the region, particularly residents from migrant communities.

Mr Chami has supported many charitable organisations, churches, and community initiatives both in Australia and Lebanon. He is deeply involved in the causes he supports and often provides guidance and mentorship to community members in Western Sydney.

Under Mr Chami’s leadership, Vitex has earned the prestigious recognition of 5-Star Employer of Choice for 2024 from Human Resources Director, Australia. The award celebrates companies that redefine what it means to be a top employer, going above and beyond for their employees in areas including benefits, culture, employee development, and diversity and inclusion.

Mr Chami has personally been presented an Excellence award for his contribution to the future growth of Lebanon’s health care system by His Excellency, Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati.

Ceremony 5 – Monday, 28 October – 9:30am

Mr Phillip Khoury

Head Pastry Chef, Harrods

Mr Khoury will be awarded an Honorary Fellowship and will deliver the occasional address.

Philip Khoury is an award-winning pastry chef and alumnus of Western Sydney University. He is the head pastry chef at Harrods in London and is passionate about using his platform to promote sustainability in cooking practices.

Philip grew up in Western Sydney and completed a Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication) from Western Sydney University in 2011. Always an avid baker, Philip made a trip to Paris where he had a profound food experience eating a pastry of Pierre Hermé’s in front of the Saint-Sulpice Cathedral which led to a surprising change in career direction - when Philip returned to Australia, he commenced training as a pastry chef.

Philip started his chef career at Australia’s most awarded restaurant Quay, before working closely with Australian pâtissier and television personality, Adriano Zumbo. At Zumbo’s research and development kitchen, Philip was able to fuse his university education in visual design with his job as a chef, combining his training and his passion. Philip’s innovative desserts and impactful Instagram presence caught the attention of Harrod’s – the world’s leading luxury department store - who head-hunted him in 2018. Philip is now the resident head pastry chef at Harrod’s, where he has spearheaded change to make pastry more creative, more inclusive, and more sustainable.

Philip’s specific focus is on using basic ingredients that are globally available and naturally plant based. He developed an interest in plant-based foods due to the unsustainable reliance of the food industry on animal exploitation and its negative impact on the environment. Recognising that food can be a powerful force for change, Philip ventured into vegan pastry and set out to prove that it is possible to make exquisite cakes without animal products, and without compromising on appearance, flavour, finesse, or creativity.

Philip is now a popular figure in the media and makes regular appearances on British TV shows, including Saturday Kitchen and as a semi-final guest judge on Bake Off: The Professionals. In 2023, he launched his first, ground-breaking book A New Way to Bake, where he shares his recipes and techniques for creating plant-based desserts that are both delicious and sustainable.

In September 2023, Philip was honoured with a pastry innovation award from French-based global restaurant guide, La Liste, “for great advances in plant-based pasty” and in 2024, Philip’s A New Way to Bake earned the prestigious Fortnum & Mason Best Debut Cookery Book award.

Ceremony 6 – Monday, 28 October – 12:00pm

Ms Deborah Wallace APM

Detective Superintendent for the New South Wales Police Force (retired)

Ms Wallace will be awarded a Community Fellowship and deliver the occasional address.

Deborah Wallace is a former detective superintendent for the New South Wales Police Force. During her distinguished 36-year career, Ms Wallace commanded some of New South Wales’s major crime squads.

Born and raised in Western Sydney, Deborah commenced her policing career in 1983 with the Blacktown Area Command. As a young constable, she played a small but significant part in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the Anita Cobby murder, when she was called upon to re-enact the last known movements of nurse Anita Cobby.

In 1989, Ms Wallace began her career as a detective, transferring to Cabramatta a few years later where she headed up the suburb’s Gangs Squad. Cabramatta in the 1990s was a vibrant place full of migrant families trying to carve out a new life in Australia, but crime was surging. Restaurants were being extorted, there were many 'neck chain robberies' and the train station was the centre of a thriving heroin trade.

Inspired by Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War', Deborah met with gang members to speak with them about their lives. They told her that they were lost to the world crime and advised that she should focus on the next generation. Taking this advice, Deborah helped establish a street school with Father Chris Riley and has subsequently been involved with Father Chris Riley's 'Youth Off the Streets' program and St Jude's Refuge for homeless men in Bankstown.

In 2008, Deborah took the helm of the Middle Eastern Organised  Crime  Squad, and later led Strike Force Raptor, a squad charged with breaking up bikie gangs. As commander of the Criminal Groups Squad and Strike Force Raptor, she led the dismantling of the State's biggest and most violent bikie gangs. Using existing laws and regulations, the strike force systematically dismantled  the Bikies' clubhouses, their right to fraternise, and  their bank accounts.

In 1996, Deborah received an Australia Day Achievement Award for strategies dealing with drug harm to youth in the Cabramatta area. She was awarded a National Medal in 2000 and in 2002, Ms Wallace won the Australian Crime and Prevention Award for developing and implementing the Cabramatta High School Police and School Links program, established to address the issue of gangs and gang violence. In 2011, Deborah was awarded the Australian Police Medal for distinguished service to the NSW Police Force.

Since her retirement in 2019, Ms Wallace has continued to help victims of crime by volunteering at Grace’s Place, a place of healing and restoration for young people affected by homicide. She also fronts the 9 Network’s Australian Crime series “Million Dollar Murders” and is an appointed community representative on the NSW Parole Authority

Ceremony 7 – Monday, 28 October – 2:30pm

Ms Sally Dale

New South Wales Valuer General, Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure

Ms Dale will be awarded an Honorary Fellowship and deliver the occasional address.

Sally Dale is an alumnus of Western Sydney University and the current NSW Valuer General, an independent statutory officer appointed by the Governor of NSW to oversee land valuations in NSW. Ms Dale is the first female to serve as Valuer General for NSW since the role was established over 100 years ago.

Ms Dale grew up in the Western Sydney suburb of North Rocks and completed a Bachelor of Business in Land Economics at Western Sydney University in 1994. She has since amassed over 30 years of experience as a property valuer, private business owner and executive. Prior to her appointment as Valuer General, Ms Dale was the acting Executive Director of the state’s land valuation agency, now known as Value NSW. Her roles prior to Value NSW included Chief Risk Officer of Interlinked Property Solutions and the State Director of Opteon Australia & New Zealand, an independent valuation, advisory and specialist property services company.

Ms Dale was appointed as the NSW Valuer General on 1 June 2024, after acting in the role for 12 months. As Valuer General, Ms Dale oversees NSW’s land valuation system, which values almost 2.7 million parcels of land each year, valued at over 2.80 trillion dollars. The Valuer General also oversees independent determinations of compensation to be paid to former landowners if their land is compulsorily acquired by government agencies.

Over the past 15 months, Ms Dale has led reforms in the property valuation sector, working with Value NSW to improve the valuation system to deliver benefits for NSW landholders and government. She has also focused on demystifying the States’ valuation system by developing and introducing tailored and targeted education programs and materials.

As Valuer General, Ms Dale has delivered the State’s first ever cultural loss acquisition assessments, providing certainty of process for compulsory acquisitions involving Native Title now and into the future.

Ms Dale is a key sponsor of Value NSW’s graduate program, which was established to address the critical shortage of property valuers in NSW.

Ceremony 8 – Monday, 28 October – 5:00pm

Mr Paul Robson

Chief Executive Officer, MYOB

Mr Robson will deliver the occasional address.

Paul became CEO of MYOB – a leading business management platform - in May last year. He returned to Australia after many years of working with respected technology businesses in Europe and the United States.

Before joining MYOB, Paul was President of Benchling, a cloud-based platform helping scientists accelerate biotechnology research and development. He has also been President of International at Adobe, leading a global portfolio across 160 markets.

Through his roles on boards and advisory groups, Paul has extensive experience advocating for increased and improved access to technology. Today, he is a non-executive director of ASX-listed Australian software company TechnologyOne and an advisory board member of peak national employer organisation, Australian Industry Group.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Marketing from this University, and a Graduate Diploma in International Business from the University of Helsinki. Paul also attended Harvard Business School.

Ceremony 9 – Tuesday, 29 October – 9:30am

Professor Gay Hawkins

Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University

Professor Hawkins will be accorded the title of Emeritus Professor and deliver the occasional address.

Professor Hawkins is one of Australia’s most well-known and highly regarded cultural theorists. Over the course of her remarkable 30-year career, Professor Hawkins has gained global esteem for her path breaking work on the study of waste in contemporary culture.

Professor Hawkins joined Western Sydney University in 2015 as a member of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS), following a distinguished career at the University of Queensland and the University of NSW. During her 8-year tenure at Western Sydney University, which included 3 years as the Engagement Director for the ICS, Professor Hawkins’s contributions to research, engagement, and mentorship, strengthened the ICS’s position in cultural studies and raised the University’s overall profile in Humanities and Social Sciences.

Professor Hawkins conducted groundbreaking research on culture and governance, environmental humanities, media studies and science and technology studies. Her research was supported by five large-scale research grants, including collaborations with SBS and the ABC. Additionally, she led a contract research project with Sydney Water, which focused on understanding the factors influencing trust in Sydney’s drinking water supply. Professor Hawkins also provided valuable support in grant development to Early and Mid-Career Researchers at the ICS.

Professor Hawkins played a significant role in establishing the international reputation of Western Sydney University in the environmental humanities. In 2017, she worked with Professor Juan Francisco Salazar and others to develop a research collaboration via the Knowledge Culture Ecologies Conference in Santiago, Chile that was consolidated through international collaborations on publications, participation in the seminar series and membership on the ICS Global Advisory Board. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Hawkins actively transitioned the seminar series to a dynamic online format, integrating colleagues from across Western Sydney University.

Professor Hawkins also worked with ICS Research Director Professor Ned Rossiter, to curate a large-scale online symposium on the pandemic which culminated in an edited book Contagion Design and ensuring the University remained at the forefront of intellectual leadership on the social, economic, and cultural consequences of the pandemic.

More recently, Professor Hawkins brokered a partnership with the Powerhouse Museum to host the “Terrestrial Politics in Uncertain Times Symposium” in October 2023. The Conference featured the University’s Maldhan Ngurr Ngurra Lithgow Transformation Hub and involved conversations with key curators and leaders at the Powerhouse Museum.

Professor Hawkins’s significant contributions to academia includes 32 book chapters, 38 journal articles and 13 authored, co-authored or co-edited books. Her 2006 book, The Ethics of Waste was one of the first to bring a cultural lens to the materiality of waste and the rise of throw away cultures, helping to establish the new field of discard studies. Her 2015 co-authored book, Plastic Water: the social and material life of bottled water brought her research into the public arena, where concern for increased plastic usage and the rise of bottled water has grown.

In 2012, Professor Hawkins was made a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities. She is currently an Alumni WSU Scholar in Residence at Powerhouse Parramatta, where she is developing a major exhibition on the Powerhouse plastics collection.

Ceremony 10 – Tuesday, 29 October – 12:00am

Professor Deborah Stevenson

Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University

Professor Stevenson will be accorded the title of Emeritus Professor and deliver the occasional address.

Professor Stevenson is a world-renowned social scientist who has led an exemplary career dedicated to the discipline of sociology and governance, and to Western Sydney University.

Professor Stevenson commenced at Western Sydney University in 2006, as the incoming Head of the School of Social Sciences. In 2011, she became the Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research and in 2014, she was appointed as the inaugural Dean of the Graduate Research School, a testament to her work strengthening the University’s social sciences disciplines and research profile.

As founding Dean of the Graduate Research School from 2014 to 2015, Professor Stevenson shaped the creation of the School and the Master of Research degree - the first all of university degree that was designed to better equip our higher degree research students to enter their Doctorate studies with the necessary skills, while also ensuring a supportive research environment and exposure to multi/trans-disciplinary research.

From 2016 until her retirement in February 2024, Professor Stevenson worked within the Institute of Culture and Society as a Professor of Sociology and Urban Cultural Research. Professor Stevenson was a vital senior leader of the Institute and contributed to its governance as a member of the Higher Degree Research Committee, Operations Committee and Executive Committee.

Professor Stevenson’s research as an urban sociologist, specialising in cultural policy studies and cultural planning, is internationally recognised and her ability to work across multiple stakeholders in community and government led to the successful leadership of nine Australian Research Council grants, as a well as a raft of other projects as a chief investigator. The most recent ARC Linkage project, The Collaborative Museum: Embedding Cultural Infrastructure in the City, is a partnership with the Powerhouse Museum and focuses on embedding the new Powerhouse Parramatta within the urban community of Parramatta, and the Western Sydney region more broadly.

Professor Stevenson’s research on urban and cultural planning and social impact has shaped development in many local communities, as evidenced by her work on the cultural plan for Newcastle City Council and in shaping the social ecology of the Darwin Waterfront redevelopment. She has extended her expertise in cultural planning to both South Africa and the United Kingdom. Professor Stevenson has also acted as an advisor and consultant across local, state and federal government, including as an invited member to the Ministerial Reference Group for the NSW Arts and Cultural Policy Framework.

Professor Stevenson has played a substantive role in mentoring Early Career Researchers as a PhD supervisor and a senior woman leader in the Institute of Culture and Society. She also co-convened the Cultural Infrastructures Research Program from 2021 until her retirement and has fostered important strategic industry relationships, including with Dr Mark Crees of NSW Create, the NSW Government’s arts and cultural driver.

Professor Stevenson’s contributions to scholarship are commendable. She has published numerous books including the recent Cultural Policy Beyond the Economy: Work, Value, and The Social in 2023, Cities of Culture: A Global Perspective in 2017 and The City in 2013. She has also (co)edited important international scholarly volumes including The Routledge Companion to Urban Media and Communication (2020) and The Ashgate Research Companion to Planning and Culture (2013). Her co-edited book, The Australian Art Field: Practices, Policies, Markets, was announced as the Winner of the Best Anthology Prize of the Art Association of Australia and New Zealand in 2020.

Professor Stevenson has served on the editorial board of international journals, including the Journal of Sociology and the International Journal of Cultural Policy. She is also frequently invited as a keynote speaker at national and international conferences including of the Australian Sociological Association in 2019; the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Science Forum on the National Cultural Policy in 2011; the UNESCO Chair Symposium on the Interface Between Cultural Policy and Development, South Africa in 2016; the 16th Vice-Chancellor’s Prestigious Research and Innovation Public Lecture, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa in 2016; the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies London in 2018 and the Department of Planning and Environment Local Character Public Lecture in 2018.

Professor Stevenson was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2021 and appointed as a Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa in 2016. She is currently an Honorary Professor at the University of Bath.

Ceremony 11 – Tuesday, 29 October – 2:30pm

Professor Simon Barrie

Former Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President, Academic, Western Sydney University

Professor Barrie will be accorded the title of Emeritus Professor and deliver the occasional address.

Ceremony 12 – Tuesday, 29 October – 5:00pm

Ms Ricci Ulrike Bartels OAM will be awarded a Community Fellowship.

Ricci Bartels is a dedicated supporter of refugees and asylum seekers. She has devoted over 40 years of her life to working with refugee and migrant communities in Fairfield, Liverpool, Blacktown and more recently, Indigenous communities in the Shoalhaven, specifically in support of the Voice Referendum.

A committed human rights and social justice activist, Ms Bartels’ experience includes working as a case worker, community development practitioner, TAFE teacher (Community Welfare), and service manager. She is the former Acting CEO of the Cabramatta Community Centre, former Executive Officer of the Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre, former Chair of the Settlement Council of Australia, and former Board Member of the Australian Council of Social Services.

Ms. Bartels has tirelessly advocated for an increase in the rate of welfare payments. She has written numerous conference papers on poverty, multiculturalism, housing, employment, and access and equity and has published a paper called A Reflection of Thirty Years in the Field in Voices from the Coalface: Practitioner Perspectives on the Challenges of Community-Based Work. Ms Bartels also produced an award-winning video trilogy titled Three Shades of Racism which looks into the nuances and underlying causes of racism.

Appearing on the ABC’s Q&A program in 2019, Ms Bartels courageously shared her lived experience on the Newstart allowance in the hopes that it would challenge negative stereotypes surrounding welfare recipients and spark important conversations about the inadequacy of the job seeker allowance. That same year, Ricci also joined former Family and Community Services Minister, the Hon Amanda Vanstone AO, on ABC-TV’s The Drum as part of a Poverty Special panel discussion.

Ms Bartels has served on several Boards and professional bodies including the Sydney Grow Employment Council Families New South Wales Project Management Group, the Department of Community Services Ethnic Advisory Group, Settlement Services International, Addison Road Community Organisation and the Refugee Australia Foundation. In 2012, she was appointed by the Gillard government as one of 40 Multicultural Ambassadors of Australia.

In 2023, Ricci was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community through a range of organisations. She holds an Associate Diploma in Social Welfare from Western Sydney University’s predecessor, the Milperra College of Advanced Education.