Dr Debra Parkinson

Dr Debra Parkinson is a social researcher and the Executive Director of new national body Gender and Disaster Australia (GADAus), formerly the Gender and Disaster (GAD) Pod. A recognised researcher in the field of gender and disaster, Debra received the Social and Political Sciences Graduate Research Thesis Award for her PhD on domestic violence after the Black Saturday bushfires. She led the GAD Pod and GADAus to receive Awards at state, national and international levels, including the Mary Fran Myer award from the Natural Hazards Center in Colorado. After just three years in operation, in 2024, GADAus received the Third Sector’s Award for ‘Emerging Not-For-Profit’.

Having led extensive research, policy and advocacy work in the women’s health sector for over 25 years, Debra has made significant contributions to shifting both public policy and perception on a wide range of issues related to women’s health and safety, including environmental justice, sexual assault, partner rape, and women’s unequal access to financial resources, superannuation, and the legal system.

Driven by a commitment to gender equality and social justice, Debra works to prevent the harms of gendered expectations in disasters which was clearly evident in her research following Black Saturday, and in subsequent research with disaster survivors. Such harms include loss of autonomy for women, increased family violence, and men’s self-harm and suicidal ideation. LGBTIQA+ people face neglect and exclusion from emergency services.

Through the Gender and Disaster Pod, she led the first conferences on violence against women in disaster, and then men’s experiences during and after Black Saturday. She was instrumental in the establishment of the first (Victorian) Taskforce on Gender and Disaster in 2015, and, the following year, led the development of National Gender and Emergency Management Guidelines.

A particular highlight for Debra was receiving the Social and Political Sciences Graduate Research Thesis Award from Monash University. She is an Adjunct Research Fellow at Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), and was inducted to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2022.

Along with her Doctor of Philosophy, Dr Parkinson also holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Letters (Honours) and a Master of Arts from Monash University.