Nicole Black (née Au) is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School.

She is a chief investigator on an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project, which aims to investigate the economic causes and consequences of child maltreatment and its associated harms, and a chief investigator on an ARC Discovery Project which aims to investigate the socioeconomic inequities in access to mental healthcare in Australia. She is currently a co-editor of the journal, Health Economics.

From 2018-2023 Nicole was awarded an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) to investigate how children and adolescents spend their time, and how this relates to their health and cognitive development.

From 2013-2018 she was supported by an Australian National Preventive Health Agency Research Fellowship to investigate the economic consequences of childhood and adolescent obesity over the life-course. Her research has contributed to understanding the health care costs attributable to childhood obesity and the impact of childhood obesity on human capital development. Nicole received her PhD in Health Economics from Monash University, and received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research by an Early Career Researcher in 2016.

Nicole’s broad research interests are in health economics and labour economics, with particular interests in the economics of child health and cognitive development; the economics of mental health; and, inequalities in health and access to health care.

Work in Progress

Dzulkipli, A., Black, N., Johnston, DW., Segal, L. Safer in School? Compulsory Schooling Reduces Maltreatment and Associated Harms. R&R at The Review of Economics and Statistics 

Black, N., Deer, L., Johnston, DW, Kunz J. Are You Okay? The Effects of a National Peer-Support Campaign on Mental Health. R&R at Journal of Marketing 

Arnup, JL., Black, N., Johnston., DW. Expecting Less in Hard Times: How the State of the Economy Influences Students’ Educational Expectations R&R at Economics of Education Review

Black, N., Johnston, DW., Knapp, M., Shields, MA., Wong, GHY Horizontal Inequity in the Use of Mental Healthcare in Australia  R&R at Health Economics

Black, N., Johnston, DW., Shields, MA., Trinh, TA. Inequity in Child Mental Healthcare Use

Escobar Carías, M., Black, N., Johnston, DW., Sweeney, R., Barker, FS., Rosnaena, Syamsul, S., Waka, T. The Gender Gap in Children's Educational Time Investments in Informal Settlements