Dr Sonia Martin

I am an experienced academic having held positions in universities in Melbourne and Adelaide and policy, and practice and research positions in the community sector. My experience in Higher Education includes program management of post-graduate and undergraduate social work degrees, Honours coordination, extensive teaching in social policy, social research and sociology, as well as work on a range of research projects. I am currently coordinating the Master of Social Work online.

My scholarly work is primarily concerned with poverty, inequality and social inclusion informed by a commitment to social justice. Building upon my PhD, my research focus is primarily on social policy issues, state welfare, stigma, the underclass thesis and research methodologies that capture lived experience.  My research track record includes work on several ARC and other large grants, presentations at national and international conferences, formal training in spatial methodologies and a co-authored book on the lived experiences of welfare.

I have a strong commitment to advancing a higher education system committed to innovative research and teaching practices that are responsive to diverse student learning needs, to contemporary social, economic and environmental challenges, and to improving the lives and well-being of those experiencing social disadvantage.

ORCID: 0000-0002-3223-8756

Selected publications and presentations

Engels, B. and Martin, S. 2017.The welfare state and neoliberalism in Australia: An historical overview, Ch4. In, K. Serr (Ed.). Thinking about Poverty (2^nd Ed). Federation Press: Sydney.

Martin, S. 2023. Representations of youth unemployment in a pre- and post- pandemic context: A critical examination of two key periods in Australian social policy, XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, 25 June - 1 July 2023, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne Australia.

Martin, S. 2015. Book Review: Priscilla Dunk-West and Fiona Verity Sociological Social Work, Critical Social Policy, 35(3): 434-435

Martin, S. 2009. Neoliberalism and the Underclass Thesis: Social Divisions in the Era of Welfare Reform. VDM-Verlag: Saarbrucken, Germany. Published PhD.

Martin, S. 2004. Reconceptualising social exclusion: A critical response to the neoliberal welfare reform agenda and the underclass thesis. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 39(1): 79-94

Martin, S. and Butterworth, P. 2022. Community attitudes towards welfare: A critical examination of five different payment types, TASA Conference, University of Melbourne 28 November - 2 December.

Martin, S and Casey, S 2022, Stigma and welfare: Revolting subjects, reclassification and resistance, TASA lunchtime seminar presentation. You Tube available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zRb57PPH1s

Martin, S., Engels, B., and Davies, L. 2019, Welfare, moralisation and neoliberalism in Australia: Federal parliamentary debate over welfare provision, 1996 to 2018, TASA Conference, University Western Sydney, 25-28 November.

Martin, S., Goff, R. and O'Keeffe, P. 2023. Integrating design thinking into social work education: A scoping review of practices and identification of opportunities for curriculum innovation, Social Work Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2023.2238713

Martin, S. and Goodman, R. 2017. Living on the edge: New forms of poverty and disadvantage on the urban fringe, In Williams, C. (Ed.). Social Work and the City: Themes, Issues and Interventions in the 21st Century Urban Context, Palgrave Macmillan.

Martin, S., Schofield, T & Butterworth, P. 2022. News media representations of people receiving income support and the production of stigma power: An empirical analysis of reporting on two Australian welfare benefits, Critical Social Policy, 42(4): 648-670.  https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183211073945

Murphy, J., Murray, S., Chalmers, J., Martin, S. and Marston, G. 2011. Half a citizen: The stories of 150 welfare recipients in Australia. Allen and Unwin: Melbourne. Winner of the Australian Human Rights Award (Literature non-fiction). 

Grants:

Martin, R. (Lead CI), Carrone, C., Cataldo, M., Maihi, A., David, C., Edwards, K., Martin, S., Jarldon, M., McKinnon, C., Nipperess, S., Watson, J., Weiss, C., Zufferey, C., Nothing about us, without us: Lived experience participation in housing and homelessness, 2023-2024, AHURI and RMIT, UniSA & ACU, 1 yr grant $163,126

Martin, R. and Martin, S. Voices from Margins, RMIT Place Lab Initiative, 2022-2023, $20K.

Rogers, P., Stevens, Cook, K., Ramcharan, P., Martin, S. and Engles, B. "MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES: New ways service delivery can break cycles of disadvantage", DHS 3 year grant: $775,456 (+12mth ext).

Cook K, Maller C, Smyth P, Levin I, Martin S, Bodsworth E. Yong families in growth areas: Applying social justice frameworks to planning policies. Centre for Applied Social Research small grant. 2012. $4,868.

Warr, D. Smyth, P. and Martin, S. Art and stigma in housing estate. University of Melbourne, $20k seeding grant.

HDR Supervision:

Casey, S. 2018. Resistance in Employment Services: A Critical Account, PhD thesis, RMIT University. Supervisors 2013-2018: Martyn Jones & Sonia Martin (co-supervisors)

Stubbings, J. 2021- (current student) Preventing, minimising and responding to re-traumatisation in mental health inpatient services for victim-survivors of sexual violence, RMIT University. Supervisory team 2021- Robyn Martin, Sonia Martin and Christine Craik.

My research supervision includes many Social Work Honours students in my role as Honours Coordinator from 2013-2023.

• International Sociological Association (ISA)
• The Australian Sociology Association (TASA)