Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Professor Philip Mendes teaches Social Policy and Community Development, and is the Director of the Social Inclusion and Social Policy Research Unit in the Department of Social Work. His key research areas include young people transitioning from out-home-care, income support including compulsory income management, social workers and policy practice, illicit drugs policy, Indigenous social policy, and Jewish community responses to institutional child sexual abuse. He is a member of the Transitions to Adulthood for Young People Leaving Public Care International Research Group, and won the 2019 Faculty of Medicine Dean's Award for Excellence in Research Impact. He is the author or editor of 12 books, and the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed academic journal articles and book chapters. His latest books include the 3rd edition of the popular textbook, Australia's Welfare Wars, published by UNSW Press in 2017, and Empowerment and Control in the Australian Welfare State (Routledge, 2019).
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- social policy
- welfare state
- young people transitioning from out of home care
- community development
- income security
- Indigenous social policy
- illicit drugs policy
- social work activism
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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Improving outcomes for young people transitioning from out-of-home care
Skouteris, H. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Mendes, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), O'Donnell, R. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Smales, M. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Green, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Currie, G. (Partner Investigator (PI))
ARC - Australian Research Council
30/06/23 → 30/06/26
Project: Research
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Evaluation of the MCM Youth Housing Initiative: A User-Centred, Hybrid Design
Shlonsky, A. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Mendes, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Petrakis, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Baidawi, S. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/07/22 → 30/06/27
Project: Research
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Transitioning from out of home care: A longitudinal population-based study
Chung, D. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Cordier, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Mendes, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Thoresen, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), O'Donnell, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Martin, R. M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Stratton, K. (Partner Investigator (PI)) & Lund, S. (Partner Investigator (PI))
Project: Research
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Building a best practice model to advance healthy ageing for care leavers (ex-residents of institutional out-of-home care) entering the aged care system.
Mendes, P. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & Baidawi, S. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/02/23 → 31/07/25
Project: Research
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Deep End Living Lab: better support for healthy ageing in homeless populations
Sturgiss, L. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Nielsen, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Skouteris, H. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Blane, D. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Collyer, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Haines, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Edwards, I. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Urban, A. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Blewitt, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Mendes, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Gunatillaka, N. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/10/22 → 31/07/24
Project: Research
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A critical analysis of domestic abuse: Using a Marxist framework to inform progressive social work responses
Lees, T. J., Flynn, C. & Mendes, P., Sept 2025, In: Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Journal. 37, 3, p. 21-34 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
AJSI Transitions From Out-Of-Home Care Special Issue Editorial by Philip Mendes, Lynne McPherson, Jemma Venables, Steven Roche and Jenna Bollinger
Mendes, P., McPherson, L., Venables, J., Roche, S. & Bollinger, J., Sept 2025, In: Australian Journal of Social Issues. 60, 3, p. 676-678 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › Other › peer-review
Open Access -
An examination of the leadership and governance responses of Australian Jewish community peak body leaders to Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (ICSA)
Pinskier, M., Mendes, P. & Baidawi, S., 25 Sept 2025, In: Social Work & Policy Studies: Social Justice, Practice and Theory. 8, 2, p. 1-30 30 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
An intersectional feminist analysis of compulsory income management in Australia
Staines, Z., Marston, G., Peterie, M., Bielefeld, S., Mendes, P. & Roche, S., Oct 2025, In: Journal of Social Policy. 54, 4, p. 1134-1152 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access2 Citations (Scopus) -
Beyond Survival: Enhancing the Aged Care Experience of Those Impacted by Trauma From Childhood Institutions
Morris, S., Turnbull, L., Mendes, P. & Baidawi, S., 31 Oct 2025, In: Australian Journal of Social Issues. 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Prizes
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2024 SPAHC Research Festival Best research theme poster
Baidawi, S. (Recipient), Morris, S. (Recipient), Turnbull, L. (Recipient) & Mendes, P. (Recipient), 2024
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Australian Journal of Political Science Mayer Journal Prize for 2021
Mendes, P. (Recipient), 6 Sept 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
- 1 Contribution to conference
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National Conference of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) 2019
Standfield, R. (Speaker), Mendes, P. (Speaker), Walsh, J. (Speaker) & Armstrong, E. (Speaker)
3 Sept 2019Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
Press/Media
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Indigenous children are leaving out-of-home care to uncertain futures. This is the support they need
Mendes, P., Saunders, B., Walsh, J., Turnbull, L., Standfield, R. & McCurdy, S.
2/09/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature