My Expertise
Social aspects of: LGBTQIA+ health; sexual and reproductive health; diverse genders, sexualities, relationships, and families
Fields of Research (FoR)
Sociology of health, Sociology of family and relationships, Sexualities, Transgender studiesBiography
Professor Christy E. Newman (they/them) is a social researcher of health, gender, and sexuality at the Centre for Social Research in Health and Deputy Dean Research in UNSW Arts, Design and Architecture.
Over the last 20 years, Christy has contributed expertise on health sociology, gender and sexuality diversity, and qualitative methods to multidisciplinary research exploring the social aspects of sexual and reproductive health, foregrounding...view more
Professor Christy E. Newman (they/them) is a social researcher of health, gender, and sexuality at the Centre for Social Research in Health and Deputy Dean Research in UNSW Arts, Design and Architecture.
Over the last 20 years, Christy has contributed expertise on health sociology, gender and sexuality diversity, and qualitative methods to multidisciplinary research exploring the social aspects of sexual and reproductive health, foregrounding community perspectives and partnerships.
More recently, this expertise has informed new collaborations exploring the distinct and sometimes intersecting needs and experiences of LGBTQIA+ populations across other areas of health and social care, including digital health, mental health, disability care, dementia care, cancer prevention, and violence prevention.
This research has been funded by >$18 million in collaborative research grants from the Australian Research Council (Discovery/Linkage), National Health and Medical Research Council (MRFF/Project/Partnership), public sector and for-purpose health agencies.
They are also regularly consulted on inclusive health, education and research practices, including as a co-lead of the new UNSW Community of Practice for inclusive research with Queer and Trans people, and people with variations of sex characteristics (Intersex; or CoPQTI).
Selected current projects and outputs include:
- Routledge Handbook of Sexuality, Gender, Health and Rights
- Elgar Encyclopaedia of Queer Studies (forthcoming)
- The sociology of health data for sexuality and gender diverse people (DP230100245)
- When caring ends: Understanding and supporting informal care trajectories (LP220100209)
- Enhancing behavioural surveillance to address gaps and disparities in Australia's HIV response in a changing epidemic (GNT2002625)
- Co-designing resources to help community visitors maintain social connections with LGBT+ people with dementia
- BiSHH: Bi+ Sexual Health and HIV Survey
- Vax4Health: A research project to co-design immunisation services with students with disability
- Dynamic Gender Project
- Developing an Inclusive Mental Healthcare Model of Care for LGBTQ people in South Australia [MRF2028317]
- Improving health outcomes via the Australian Research Consortium for Trans Youth and Children [MRF2032119]
- Improving the physical and mental health of people born with innate variations of sex characteristics [MRF2032224]
- SAGE Dem: A model of care to improve health of sexuality and/or gender diverse people living with dementia [MRF2031598]
Selected past projects and outputs include:
- Gender diversity and social change: transgressions, translations, transformations
- my health, our family: documenting stories of family life in the context of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C (DP160100134)
- What we do well: strengths based research about Aboriginal young people's sexual wellbeing (LP170100190)
- Waiting to be seen: social perspectives on trans health
- Queer families: valuing stories of diversity, adversity and belonging
- Trust in digital health among communities affected by BBVs and STIs in Australia
- Sustaining sexual and reproductive health through COVID-19 pandemic restrictions
- Trans inclusive cervical cancer screening
- Queer generations: belonging and citizenship among gender and sexual minority youth
- StraightMSM study: heterosexually-identified men who have sex with men
- You, Me and HIV: serodiscordant couple's study
- Positively women: project and exhibition
- Understanding disparities in PrEP access
- Managing HIV in general practice settings (1021790)
- Aboriginal Patterns of Cancer Care (440202)
- Primary health care project on HIV and depression
- Cultural politics of health magazine reader letters
- Industries, genres and citizenships in dance music magazines
My Awards
- 2020 - Research Supervisor Award, UNSW Arc Postgraduate Council
- 2017 - Mid-Career Interdisciplinary Achiever Award, Australasian Sexual Health Alliance
- 2010 - Paul Bourke Award for Early Career Research, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
- 1998 - University Medal in Arts, Murdoch University
My Research Supervision
Currently supervising
- Shannon Harvey (part-time): Disrupted bodies: Interrogating the gender binary in family violence policy and practice
- Clue Coman: Experiences of discrimination and engagement with anti-discrimination mechanisms among LGBTQA+ people in Australia
- Tierney Marey (part-time): Embodied equity: Equity labour in higher education
- Ava del Tufo (part-time): The multifaceted health impacts of living in a rural community for transgender and gender diverse people
- Bella Bushby: Assessing the sexual health and HIV needs of Bi+ people in Australia
- Heather McCormack (submitted): Optimising the MBS 715 Adult Health Check to improve sexual health testing in routine care for Aboriginal people in NSW
Doctoral graduates
- Dr Catriona Ooi (2024): Services for men who have sex with men in western Sydney
- Dr Lisa Wojciechowski (2023) Young + Positive: Young people living with HIV in Australia
- Dr Anthony KJ Smith (2022) PrEP in Practice: a sociological study of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis prescribing
- Dr Giselle Newton (2022) Everyday belongings: Exploring Australian donor-conceived adults' social, linguistic and digital practices across private and public domains
- Dr Elena Cama (2022) Navigating safety and sexual harms in the context of dating and hookup platform use among adult Australians
- Dr Elan Lazuardi (2019) Navigating the social dynamics of HIV care: A qualitative study in urban Indonesia in the era of scaled-up testing and treatment
- Dr Jialing (Angela) Cui (2019) Understanding the empowerment of people with severe mental illness in the community through the eyes of social work practitioners in Sydney and Hong Kong
- Dr Jessica Botfield (2019) Engaging young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds with sexual and reproductive health care
- Dr Jamee Newland (2015) Safety in the silence: A qualitative social network analysis of hepatitis C risk and prevention in three networks of Australians who inject drugs
- Dr Denton Callander (2013) Just a Preference: Exploring concepts of race among gay men looking for sex or dates online
- Dr Dean Murphy (2013) ‘A child of one’s own’: enacting kinship among gay men pursuing parenthood through surrogacy
- Dr Rebecca Gray (2013) The dynamics of shame: navigating professional complexities when counselling in alcohol and other drug settings
My Engagement
- Editorial Board, Culture, Health & Sexuality
- Editorial Board, Health Sociology Review
- Associate, Australian Human Rights Institute
- Member, Ally@UNSW Network
- Member, NSW Health LGBTIQ+ Health Strategy Implementation Committee
- Member, LGBTIQ+ Health and Wellbeing Research Network Steering Committee
- Member, The Australian Sociological Association (TASA)
- Member, Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH)
- Member, Rainbow Families