About me

I began my PhD at the School of Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University (ANU) in February 2021, after a 15 year career in the Australian Public Service. I spent a significant amount of time reading and responding to letters from members of the public, on behalf of the Prime Minister and other Ministers. I saw letters from pensioners, seeking changes to means testing arrangements; letters from parents unable to afford school supplies for their children; and letters from people wishing the Prime Minister good luck at the next election. I saw how Ministers and their offices engaged with these letters, how they informed policy development and perceptions of public opinion. This experience drives my research.

My PhD research examines who writes; why they write; and the impact of the letters on public policy and the political agenda. I am studying this by examining the letters of members of the public to Prime Minister Howard. This includes developing the first dataset of the volume and topic of letters to a Prime Minister, on a fortnightly basis, coded against the internationally-recognised Comparative Agendas Project topic list. Currently, this dataset covers from March 1996 (when Mr Howard was elected) to December 2000. This dataset allows for a much finer-grained analysis of public opinion than traditional annual datasets.

My main research interests include responsiveness of political elites to public opinion, political participation, public opinion, and how the political and public agenda is set. I also have research interests in freedom of information; archival research; and the structure of doctoral programmes and the training of doctoral candidates.

Prior to academia, I had an extensive career in the Australian Public Service, working across central agencies and social policy agencies. I worked on the establishment of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and the rollout of digital TV. I have also worked for Members of Parliament and peak non-government organisations in the health sector.

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