Shelley Turner is a Senior Lecturer and Early Career Researcher in Social Work in the School of Primary and Allied Health Care at Monash University.  Shelley currently teaches and researches in social work and criminology. Prior to commencing her academic career in 2015, she worked for more than 15 years in direct practice, clinical management and senior executive policy officer and project roles in youth justice in New South Wales and Victoria. She was the clinical manager of Australia's first Youth Drug and Alcohol Court (YDAC) program; Acting Director, Programs Branch, Juvenile Justice NSW; Chair of the Juvenile Justice NSW state-wide Procedures Review Committee and Young Women’s Advisory Committee (YWAC); and member of the Keep Them Safe (KTS) Senior Officers Group (SOG). Shelley also has more than 10 years' experience as a contract researcher and consultant to organisations in the criminal justice and community services sectors. 

Shelley's PhD research examines how youth justice clients understand and experience case management, from their own perspectives.  It is one of very few studies in Australia and internationally to focus on case management in youth justice, and to prioritise the voices and experiences of young people in this context.  The study confirms the importance of hearing directly from young people in youth justice and the need for further critical examination and clarification of the meaning and application of case management in youth justice policy and practice.  Shelley's thesis was published on Bridges on 17 September 2019, and is in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.

Shelley’s current research projects focus on supporting students to deal with aggressive behaviours on field placement, criminal justice knowledge co-production, youth justice case management, and after-hours youth bail and remand decision-making. Shelley is also leading a national study in collaboration with RMIT Social Work and the National Field Education Network that explores the impacts of COVID-19 on university students and educators involved in social work field education. The project is funded by a grant from the Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN).