Dr Debra Parkinson

Deb Parkinson

Adjunct role and academic appointments

Dr Debra Parkinson is an Adjunct Research Fellow at Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), having first been invited by Emeritus Professor Frank Archer in 2015 as an Adjunct Research Fellow with MUDRI.

In 2022, she was inducted to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.

In November 2024, Dr Debra Parkinson was honoured to receive the prestigious Fellowship of Monash University award, issued by the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and Council.

Career foundation and PhD

Debra has led extensive research, policy and advocacy work in the women’s sector since the 1980s. This has contributed to shifting public policy and perception on a wide range of issues related to women’s safety and health, including environmental justice, sexual assault, partner rape, and women’s unequal access to financial resources, superannuation, and the legal system.

In 2015, Debra graduated with her PhD on increased domestic violence after the Victorian ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires, supervised by Professor Denise Cuthbert (and co-supervisors Dr Kirsten McLean and Dr Danielle Tyson). She was honoured to receive the ‘Social and Political Sciences Graduate Research Thesis Award’.

Dr Parkinson has delivered presentations on her doctoral research at international conferences in Japan, Denmark, the United States, Scotland, and New Zealand.

Find Dr Parkinson on LinkedIn

GAD Pod establishment and leadership

In 2015, the Gender and Disaster Pod (GAD Pod) was established under Debra’s leadership as a partnership between Women’s Health Goulburn North East (CEO Susie Reid), Women’s Health In the North (CEO, Helen Riseborough), and Monash University Disaster Resilience Initiative (Emeritus Professor Frank Archer). The GAD Pod received awards at state, national and international levels, including the Mary Fran Myer award from the Natural Hazards Center in Colorado, and the 2019 Resilient Australia Award for ‘Nationally Significant Projects: Addressing domestic violence in disasters through implementing National Gender and Emergency Management Guidelines’.

National-level impact and GADAus

This body of work, conducted in collaboration with many partners and supporters, led to negotiations with the Australian Federal Government during 2021 for a four-year contract. From December 2021, Dr Parkinson led the establishment of Gender and Disaster Australia Ltd. as an independent organisation with a Board and staff to deliver Lessons in Disaster training and resources across the country.

After just three years in operation, in 2024, GADAus received the Third Sector’s Award for ‘Emerging Not-For-Profit’.

Key research themes and influence

Driven by a commitment to gender equality and social justice, Debra’s work seeks to prevent the harms of gendered expectations in disasters which was clearly evident in her research with Claire Zara following Black Saturday, and in subsequent research with men, LGBTIQA+ people, and disaster survivors across the decades in Australia since the 1940s. Such harms include loss of autonomy for women, increased family violence, and men’s self-harm and suicidal ideation, with LGBTIQA+ people facing neglect and exclusion from emergency services.

Dr Parkinson was commissioned to lead a range of research projects through the GAD Pod, including women’s and men’s experience in disasters, investigating barriers to women in firefighting, lesbian and bi women’s experiences of disaster and the emergency sector, and long-term disaster resilience. Each project was conducted collaboratively with co-investigators and guided by Advisory Groups and community members.

This research has been instrumental in raising awareness and driving change within the emergency management sector, informing frameworks, policies and practices on a national and international scale, including the federal government’s 2023 mid-term review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Ongoing academic contributions

Through her role as an Adjunct at MUARC, Dr Parkinson highlights the critical relevance of gender in emergency management. Since 2024, she has contributed annually to the Swiss National Science Foundation and regularly reviews journal articles, helping to strengthen the presence of gender and disaster perspectives within emergency management literature.

Awards:

  • 2024 Awarded a Fellowship of Monash University. Issued by Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, and Council, Monash University.
  • 2024 Third Sector Award for Emerging Not-for-Profit of the Year, (as ED, GADAus.)
  • 2022 Inducted to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.
  • 2020 Named one of 16 Female Role Models internationally by The Pixel Project. https://www.thepixelproject.net/2020/11/25/transforming-personal-pain-into-positive-action-the-pixel-projects-16-female-role-models-2020/
  • 2019 The Resilient Australia Award for ‘Nationally Significant Projects: Addressing domestic violence in disasters through implementing National Gender and Emergency Management Guidelines’. (Awarded to the GAD Pod)
  • 2019 The Victorian Resilient Australia Community Award —  Sponsored by the Australian Government in partnership with the states and territories and managed by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR) for Long-Term Disaster Resilience. (Awarded to the GAD Pod)
  • 2017 Mary Fran Myers Award from the Natural Hazards Center, Colorado and the Gender and Disaster Network (awarded for the GAD Pod collaboration).
  • 2015 Best thesis in the Social & Political Sciences department, Monash University Award for ‘Women’s experience of violence following the aftermath of the Black Saturday brushfires’. Supervisors: Professor Denise Cuthbert (RMIT), Dr Kirsten McLean, Dr Danielle Tyson.
  • 2014 Resilient Australia Award — Sponsored by the Attorney General’s Department, for ‘Gender & Disaster: Leading the Change’, in the category of ‘Projects of National Significance’.
  • 2013 Victorian Health Promotion Foundation Award for ‘Family violence after natural disaster research: Breaking new ground’, to WHGNE in the category of ‘Knowledge and Understanding’.
  • 2013 The 6th Professor Frederick ‘Skip’ Burkle Jnr Keynote Lecture (D. Parkinson & C. Zara), at the MUDRI Research Symposium, Monash University

Publications:

(Submitted) Parkinson, D. ‘Margaret Atwood’ for Inspiring Disaster Scholarship: 100 of the Most Influential Thinkers - a collection for moving the scholarship forward. To be edited by K. Chmutina and J. von Meding.

Parkinson, D. (2024). Sources of resistance and success: gender justice in emergency management around the world. In Australian Journal of Emergency Management 39(3).  https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/ajem-july-2024-sources-of-resistance-andsuccess-gender-justice-in-emergency-management-around-the-world/

Parkinson, D. (2023)16 ways to prevent and intervene in violence against women during disasters. (Online) https://www.thepixelproject.net/2023/12/03/16-ways-to-prevent-and-intervene-inviolence-against-women-during-disasters/

Parkinson, D. & Leonard, L. & O’Malley, S. (2023) Hero Label: Distortion and Propaganda, in Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies (Springer, Cham.) https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-031-17125-3_265-1%C2%A0

Parkinson, D. (2023) Short fuse links bushfires with domestic violence in 360info publication from Monash University https://360info.org/short-fuse-links-bushfires-with-domestic-violence/

Crawford T, Chang K-yJ, Nila F, Subramaniam P, Bethune L, Parkinson D, Villeneuve M. (2023). The Intersectionality of Gender, Sexual Identity, and Disability in Disaster Risk Reduction in OECD Countries: A Rapid Scoping Review. In Disabilities 3(4):562-578.  https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/3/4/36

Parkinson, D. (2022). ‘I thought you were more of a man than that’: Men and disasters. In Australian Journal of Emergency Management (37)4. https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/ajem-october-2022-i-thought-you-were-more-of-a-man-than-that-men-and-disasters/

Parkinson, D. (2022)  ‘An Enduring and Deep Disinterest’. The Crisis Response Journal.  https://www.crisis-response.com/Articles/641954/CRJ_17_3.aspx

Parkinson, D. ‘Gender-based Violence and Disasters’ (2022). In Benouar, D. (Ed.), The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science. Oxford University Press. https://genderanddisaster.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ORE-DP-Article.pdf

Sohrabizadeh, S. & Parkinson, D. (2022). ‘Men’s role in violence against women in Iran and Australia’. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 37(1), pp.  65-71. Men’s role in violence against women in disasters: studies in Iran and Australia | AJEM Research

Parkinson, D., Duncan, A., Kaur, J., Archer, F. & Spencer, C. (2022). ‘Gendered aspects of long term disaster resilience in Victoria, Australia’.  Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 37(1), pp.  59-64. ajem-2022-01.pdf

Murray, V., Parkinson, D. & Bloomer, E. (2021). ‘Climate change and disaster risk reduction’ (Ch. 23) in Luber, G., Lemery, J. & Sorensen, C. Global Climate Change and Human Health: From Science to Practice 2nd Ed. Wiley. Global Climate Change and Human Health: From Science to Practice, 2nd Edition | Wiley

Parkinson, D., Duncan, A., Leonard, W. & Archer, F. (2021). Lesbian and Bisexual Women’s Experience of Emergency Management. Gender Issues, 39, 75–98 Lesbian and Bisexual Women’s Experience of Emergency Management | Gender Issues

Parkinson, D., Duncan, A., Kaur, J., Archer, F. & Spencer. C. (2020). ‘The role of community in long-term disaster resilience in Australia’. Radical Community Work Journal, 4(2).

Parkinson, D. (2019). Investigating the Increase in Domestic Violence Post Disaster: An Australian Case Study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(11), 2333–2362. Investigating the Increase in Domestic Violence Post Disaster: An Australian Case Study - Debra Parkinson, 2019

Parkinson, D., Duncan, A., & Archer, F. (2019). Barriers and enablers to women in fire and emergency leadership roles, Gender in Management: An International Journal, Vol. 34 Issue: 2, pp.78-93. Barriers and enablers to women in fire and emergency leadership roles | Emerald Insight

Parkinson, D., Duncan, A., Archer, F., Dominey-Howes, D., Gorman-Murray, A., McKinnon, S. (2018). Introducing new national Gender and Emergency Management (GEM) Guidelines to support more inclusive disaster risk reduction work. Australian Journal of Emergency Management Monograph, Monograph No. 3(October 2018), 28 30 https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/media/6031/diversity-in-disaster-monograph.pdf

Parkinson, D. & Duncan, A. (2018). What’s so hard about writing a fire plan? The central role of gendered expectations in bushfire planning. Australian Journal of Emergency Management Monograph No. 3. Australian Journal of Emergency Management Monograph | AJEM

Parkinson, D., Duncan, A., Davie, S., Archer. F., Sutherland, A., O’Malley, S., Jeffrey, J., Pease, B., Wilson, A. & Gough, M. (2018). Victoria’s Gender and Disaster Taskforce: A retrospective analysis. Australian Journal of Emergency Management. July 2018. Vol. 33. Issue 3. Victoria’s Gender and Disaster Taskforce | AJEM Research

Parkinson, D. & Zara, C. (2016) ‘Men Reveal the Emotional and Personal Costs of the Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria, Australia’ in Enarson, E. & Pease, B. (Eds.) Men, Masculinities and Disaster: Revisiting the Gendered Terrain of Disaster. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Men-Masculinities-and-Disaster/Enarson-Pease/p/book/9781138934177.

Zara, C., Parkinson, D., Duncan, A., and Joyce, K. (2016) Men and Disaster: Men’s experiences of the Black Saturday bushfires and the aftermath. The Australian Journal of Emergency Management. Vol. 31 Issue 3.  https://ajem.infoservices.com.au/items/AJEM-31-03-15

Parkinson, D. & Zara, C. (2016) ‘Emotional and Personal Costs for men of the Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria, Australia’ in Enarson, E. & Pease, B. (Eds.) Men, Masculinities and Disaster. London: Routledge. Men, Masculinities and Disaster - 1st Edition - Elaine Enarson - Bob P

Parkinson, D. (2016)  IPSV Perpetrators and Entitlement in McOrmond-Plummer, L.,  Levy-Peck, J. & Easteal, P. (Eds.).  Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Books.

Parkinson, D. (2015) Women’s experience of violence in the aftermath of the Black Saturday bushfires. A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Clayton: School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University. Women’s experience of violence in the aftermath of the Black Saturday bushfires

Parkinson, D., Zara, C., & Davie, S. (2015). Victoria's Gender and Disaster Taskforce. Australian Journal of Emergency Management. Vol. 30. No. 4. Oct 2015: 26-29.

Parkinson, D., & Zara, C. (2015). Women-led sustained efforts give birth to key Gender & Disaster body, many Australian “firsts”. In M. Cocchiglia (Ed.), Women’s Leadership in Risk-Resilient Development. Bangkok, Thailand: UNISDR. Women’s leadership in risk-resilient development: good practices and lessons learned | UNDRR

Parkinson, D., Farrant, B. & Duncan, A. (2015). Women and Children. In R. Walker & W. Mason (Eds.), Climate change adaptation by community based health and social service organisations. Collingwood: CSIRO Publishing.  Climate Change Adaptation for Health and Social Services, Rae Walker, Wendy Mason, 9781486302536

Parkinson, D., Duncan, A., & Weiss, C. (2014). ‘The impact on women’s health of climatic and economic disaster position paper’ in Australian Women's Health Network (Ed.). Drysdale, Vic.: AWHN. Homepage - Australian Women's Health Alliance

Parkinson, D., & Zara, C. (2013). Issues Faced by Intimate Partner Sexual Violence Survivors in Rural Areas In L. McOrmond-Plummer, P. Easteal & J. Levy-Peck (Eds.), Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: A Multidisciplinary Guide to Improving Services and Support for Survivors of Rape and Abuse. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Parkinson, D., & Reid, S. (2013). "Invisible" Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: Prevention and Intervention Challenges. In L. McOrmond-Plummer, P. Easteal & J. Levy-Peck (Eds.), Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: A Multidisciplinary Guide to Improving Services and Support for Survivors of Rape and Abuse. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Parkinson, D., & Zara, C. (2013). The hidden disaster: domestic violence in the aftermath of natural disaster. The Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 28(2). Availability: AGISPT

Quadara, A., Fileborn, B. & Parkinson, D. (2013) The role of forensic medical evidence in the prosecution of adult sexual assault. ACSSA Issues No. 15. http://aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/issue/i15/index.html

Parkinson, D., & Zara, C. (2012). ‘Under Fire: violence in the aftermath of Black Saturday’, DVIRC Quarterly Edition 2 – Winter 2012 (13-15)

Parkinson, D., Lancaster, C. & Stewart, A.  (2011). A numbers game: Lack of gendered data impedes prevention of disaster-related family violence [online]. Health Promotion Journal of Australia: Official Journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals, Vol. 22, Special Issue, Dec 2011: S42-S45.  ISSN: 1036-1073. (96) A numbers game: lack of gendered data impedes prevention of disaster-related family violence

Parkinson, D. (2010). Supporting Victims Through the Legal Process. ACSSA Wrap No. 8. http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/wrap/wrap8/w8.pdf

Parkinson, D. (2009). Why partner rape is so invisible and why women don't report. DVIRC Quarterly(2), 14-15.

Parkinson, D. (2008). Partner rape and rurality. Aware Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault Newsletter(16) pp. 21-22