Gender Justice Hub

Professor Penny Jane Burke is UNESCO Chair in Equity, Social Justice and Higher Education and Director of the Centre of Excellence in Equity in Higher Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Dedicated to developing methodological, theoretical and pedagogical frameworks that enable critical and feminist praxis, generating time-space for the reframing of equity in higher education, she has published widely across gender and social justice in higher education and lifelong learning. Penny is currently co-editor of the Bloomsbury Gender and Education book series, Global Chair of Social Innovation at University of Bath and an Honorary Professor at University of Exeter.

Jean Parker is a research assistant in the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education (CEEHE) at the University of Newcastle. Her work centres on the political economy of higher education, neoliberalism and the Australian welfare state, and class and inequality. Jean has published on Australia’s policy response to the global financial crisis of 2008, financialisation and housing, and inequity in Australian higher education. 

Felicity Cocuzzoli (Kennedy) is a visual artist and social scientist, who has worked with women, children and communities across government and not for profit roles for more than thirty years. A proud Wiradjuri descendant, Felicity’s work with the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education is centred on the application of creative methodologies for equity praxis. Felicity works with a range of academic and community partners across creative research and practice-based initiatives for women with lived experiences of gender-based violence, that are culturally-sensitive and trauma-informed. 

Dr Stephanie Hardacre is an early career researcher at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her PhD focused on the social psychological dynamics of gender discrimination in the workplace and effective methods for social change. Stephanie has published in the area of gender equality, solidarity, leadership, and social change. Her work has been included in former Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s book Women and Leadership, and in Harvard Kennedy School’s Women and Public Policy Program’s Gender Action Portal – a resource for decision-makers across sectors to translate research into action. 

Jayne McCartney is a sexologist, educator, and public health professional specialising in the prevention of gender-based violence in higher education. Jayne is a key part of the Gender Justice Hub through her role as the University of Newcastle’s Respectful University Manager.

Jayne uses a sexological and public health lens to lead initiatives that embed consent education, sexual violence prevention, and respectful relationships education and training in a higher education setting, collaborating with students, staff, and sector partners with the objective of creating lasting cultural change. Jayne has a deep commitment to trauma-informed practice and believe in the power of centring lived experience expertise – not just as an inclusion, but as essential to ethical and effective prevention work.

Julia Shaw is the Research Coordinator at the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education. She has a degree in Art History and Theory and a Masters in Policy Studies. 

Matt Lumb is Associate Director of the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education at the University of Newcastle in Australia. His PhD explored the unintended consequences of university outreach initiatives, and he is interested in how policy and program evaluation can be practiced to privilege marginalised and subjugated knowledges and knowledge holders. He works with colleagues to create and sustain critical and generative contexts with staff, students, and community members invested in reforming higher education.

Rhyall Gordon works in the role of Praxis Officer for the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education at the University of Newcastle. His role involves developing participatory evaluation initiatives to support the exchange between theory and practice in the context of equity projects within the University of Newcastle and with community partners.

Dr Julia Coffey is a senior lecturer in Sociology at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her feminist sociological research focuses on gender, affect, youth and the body with particular interests in gendered body work practices. She has authored a number of books, most recently Everyday Embodiment: Rethinking Youth Body Image (2021, Palgrave Macmillan). Her other books include Body Work: Youth, Gender and Health (2016, Routledge), co-edited collection Learning Bodies: The Body in Youth and Childhood Studies (2016, Springer), co-authored Youth Sociology (2020, Red Globe Press). 

Associate Professor Gifty Oforiwaa Gyamera holds a senior role at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). She is a primary partner of the UNESCO Chair in Equity, Social Justice and Higher Education and the Gender Justice Hub. Associate Professor Gyamera co-supervises the UNESCO Scholar and facilitates a network of women scholars, activists and policy-makers in Ghana aiming to address gender-based violence in higher education.

Ernestina is working to understand the impact of gender-based violence on access to and participation in higher education in remote regions of Ghana. Awarded the funded UNESCO Scholarship in 2023, Ernestina has now returned from field work in Ghana. In 2025, she visited the Upper Eastern and Northern districts to conduct 25 in-depth interviews with higher education students and staff and non-government agencies supporting girls and women in the region. Ernestina has begun analysis and has identified key areas for reform. Ernestina is driven to create change in Ghana both through her PhD and her work in developing a women’s empowerment not-for-profit. Ernestina is an inaugural member of the Ghanaian Feminist Collective, which forms part of the UNESCO Chair in Equity, Social Justice and Higher Education.