Jan Breckenridge is a Professor and Head of the School of Social Sciences and the Co-Convener of the UNSW Gendered Violence Research Network, UNSW. She is also a Research Fellow of the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute (AHRI). Jan has undertaken extensive work and research in the areas of gendered violence. Select research areas include domestic, family and sexual violence and workplace responses; economic and financial abuse;...view more
Jan Breckenridge is a Professor and Head of the School of Social Sciences and the Co-Convener of the UNSW Gendered Violence Research Network, UNSW. She is also a Research Fellow of the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute (AHRI). Jan has undertaken extensive work and research in the areas of gendered violence. Select research areas include domestic, family and sexual violence and workplace responses; economic and financial abuse; homelessness and the potential of safe at home programs for women and children affected by domestic and family violence. Jan’s research is oriented towards maximum impact in innovative social policy development, service provision and outcome measurement of effectiveness. Jan leads an evidence informed knowledge-exchange stream ‘Gendered Violence and Organisations’, which provides expert advice to government, private and third sector organisations on best practice policies and organisational response to employees and the management of customers affected by domestic and family violence, sexual assault and sexual harassment.
My Qualifications
Bachelor of Social Studies (Hons) Sydney University , PhD UNSW
My Awards
2019 - Dean's Award for Society Impact
2015 - UNSW Staff Excellence Award in Work, Health and Safety – GV & Work Program
2014 - Dean's Award for Research Excellence
2014 - ARC Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision
2010 - UNSW Staff Award for Excellence in Community Engagement
My Research Activities
Co-Convener, UNSW Gendered Violence Research Network, which brings together over 60 UNSW research affiliates and internal members, with over 1000 followers on Twitter and 1,500 external subscribers. Jan co-chaired the first significant event of the GVRN - the Inaugural Asia Pacific Conference on Gendered Violence and Violations (2015), a three day conference which brought together 330 delegates from 20 countries, with 20 keynote speeches, 80 paper presentations and 7 pre-conference master classes covering a range of themes. These themes included investigating different forms of interventions and engaging with policy and legal responses, in an effort to combine research excellence and practitioner knowledge, and to promote policy discussion with the goal of reducing and mitigating the harmful effects of gendered violence.
Select Current and Recent Research Projects
- Jan Breckenridge (Lead CI) Economic and Financial Abuse - establishing the evidence base and role of financial institutions 2020 - 2024 funded by Commonwealth Bank of Australia
- Jan Breckenridge (Lead CI) Insurers responding to DFV experienced by employees and customers - mapping best practice 2020-2022 funded by Allianz Insurance
- Jan Breckenridge (Lead CI), kylie valentine, Kylie Cripps National Safe at Home Program Audit and the Development of an Operational Response Framework Commonwealth Department of Social Services – Category 2 Select Tender, 2017-2020
- kylie valentine (Lead CI), Jan Breckenridge, Limin Mao and Gianfranco Giuntoli Evaluation of four community-based men’s behaviour change program pilots Women NSW, Department of Family and Community Services – Category 2 Select Tender, 2017-2019
- Jan Breckenridge (Lead CI), kylie valentine, Natasha Cortis, National DFV and Sexual Assault Workforce Survey, Commonwealth Department of Social Services – Category 2 Select Tender, 2017-2018.
- kylie valentine (Lead CI), Jan Breckenridge, Kylie Cripps, Kathryn Flanagan, Kylie Cripps, Lucinda Burns The provision of integrated housing support for families, including those affected by DFV Category 1 AHURI National Housing Research Program 2016-2018
- Jan Breckenridge (Lead CI), Rapid Evidence Review – effectiveness of services delivered to victims and survivors of CSA, Attorney General’s Department/Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse – Category 2 Select Tender, 2015
- Jan Breckenridge (Lead CI), kylie valentine, Susan Rees Meta-evaluation of existing interagency partnerships, collaboration, coordination and/or integrated interventions and service responses to violence against women, Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety – Category 1 Grant, 2015
- Jan Breckenridge (Lead CI), Donna Chung, Angela Spinney, Carole Zufferey National mapping and meta-evaluation outlining key features of effective "safe at home" programs, Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety – Category 1 Grant, 2015
Gendered Violence & Organisations Program (established 2015) – Specialist policy advice, development and provision of innovative and tailored training and eLearning for government, private and third-sector organisations: https://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/research/gendered-violence-research-network/gendered-violence-work/
This project built on two research projects:
- Jan Breckenridge (Lead CI), Safe at Home, Safe at Work – DV Workplace Rights and Entitlements Project, Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations – Commissioned Research, 2010-2013.
- Jan Breckenridge (Lead CI), Family and Sexual Violence in the Workplace Strategies Project, Papua New Guinea [Phases 1 and 2], World Bank/IFC – Category 3 Competitive Tender, 2014-2015.
The GV & Work Program has received overwhelmingly positive evaluations of our development of best practice awareness and response training delivered to over 40 organisations. A current suite of e-learning modules is available in the areas of awareness and response to DFV (customers and employees), Sexual assault and sexual harassment, including University campuses.
My Engagement
Jan is a member of a number of National and International Advisory Groups, Networks and Centres. Select Examples include:
- Co-Convener, UNSW Gendered Violence Research Network, which brings together over 100 UNSW research affiliates and internal members, with over 2000 followers on Twitter and 1,500 external subscribers.
- Research Fellow, Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW (2019 - Current)
- Research Fellow, Research Centre on Violence at West Virginia University (2017 - Current)
- Foundation Member, Gendered Violence Research PLuS Alliance Network (2018 - Current)
- Invited Member, Commonwealth Bank National Customer Advocate Community Council (2018 - Current)
My Teaching
Areas of HDR supervision:
Trauma, domestic and sexual violence, gender, child abuse and child protection, welfare intervention and practice, qualitative research methodology
Current HDR supervision:
- Sophie Yates PhD Social Sciences (Politics) Understanding the gender power dimensions of family violence: An analysis of the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence
- Jessica Russ-Smith PhD Scientia Scholar
- Amelia Wheeler PhD Social Sciences (Social Work) Meaningful child inclusive practice in Family Court mediation and family dispute resolution
- Jennette McGrory PhD Social Sciences (Social Work)
- Samantha Lyneham PhD Social Sciences (Criminology)
- Marie-Claire Cheron-Sauer Professional Doctorate (Social Work)
- Gillian Adams Professional Doctorate (Social Work)
Recent HDR completions:
- Paula Jops PhD Social Sciences (Sociology) Negotiating survival: uncovering the lived experiences of Chin refugee women in Delhi, India who engage in risky livelihoods. UNSW Sydney 2017
- Jennifer Brown PhD Social Sciences (Social Work) Parents’ Experiences of their adolescent’s mental health treatment. A constructivist grounded theory investigation of parents’ experiences of their child’s treatment in a residential adolescent mental health service. UNSW Sydney 2017
- Jen Hamer PhD Social Sciences (Sociology) [Not] Just a Piece of Paper – ontological practice and ethical obligations in the recognition of prior learning (RPL). UNSW Sydney 2013
- Cheryl Fletcher, PhD Social Sciences (Social Work), Single by Choice - the stories of single women using doner insemination to achieve their family of choice (UNSW Sydney 2013)
- Paul Andrews PhD Social Sciences (Social Work) Gay men talk about the place of extra-relational sex in their committed relationships: Orientations for the therapeutic terrain (UNSW Sydney 2010)
- Jean Burke PhD Social Sciences (Social Work) The role of community and social ties in the prevention of post-natal HIV transmission to children in East Africa (UNSW Sydney 2008)
- Riffat Haque PhD Social Sciences (Women’s and Gender Studies) Practices of purdah in Pakistan – increasing women’s agency and mobility? (UNSW Sydney 2003)
- Diana Coholic PhD Social Sciences (Social Work) Spirituality and Social Work Practice – What constitutes best practice? (UNSW Sydney 2001)
- Rachel Margolius PhD Social Sciences (Sociology) The experiences of Young People and Homelessness (UNSW Sydney 2001)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6379-0607