Swinburne researchers appointed as University Distinguished Professors

Social impact researcher, Professor Jo Barraket, and clinical forensic psychologist, Professor James Ogloff, have been appointed as University Distinguished Professors at Swinburne.

“This title recognises the significant and exceptional contributions both researchers have made to their research fields and to Swinburne over many years,” says Vice-Chancellor Professor Linda Kristjanson AO.

A desire for a more inclusive world

Professor Barraket founded the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) Swinburne in 2014, and has built it into the largest social innovation research centre in the world.

Under her leadership, the centre explores current social challenges and opportunities to create more inclusive economic and social systems. As part of the national CSI network, they provide the most comprehensive postgraduate program in social impact in Australia.

Professor Barraket received the inaugural Vice-Chancellor’s Leadership Award in 2018 for her success in people leadership within the Centre for Social Impact.

Professor Barraket is a regular advisor to practitioners, philanthropy and governments in the areas of social enterprise, digital inclusion and social impact measurement.

Since joining Swinburne, she has been awarded more than $6 million in research income, including five Australian Research Council (ARC) grants.

She has authored more than 70 publications and nearly 20 major commissioned reports that contribute to policy development and practice in social investment, social procurement, and social enterprise development. In particular, her leadership of the Finding Australia’s Social Enterprise Sector and Map for Impact projects have resulted in public and private investment of $50 million in Australian social enterprise development, and more than $25 million in Australian public sector procurement from social enterprises.

Lifelong dedication to understanding offender behaviour

Professor Ogloff is the Foundation Director of the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, with more than 35 years’ experience in correctional, clinical and forensic mental health settings worldwide.

With his colleagues, he established the graduate program in forensic mental health and behavioural science at Swinburne, which now has more than 160 students enrolled every semester.

Professor Ogloff leads the team at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science which currently has more than 40 doctoral students completing their training and research.

Most of Professor Ogloff’s work aims to understand why people offend, including those with mental illness, and to help reduce the likelihood of people offending. He has published 18 books and more than 300 scholarly articles, and in his time at Swinburne has received more than $7 million in research funding.

Professor Ogloff has been instrumental in the development of four psychological assessment measures that are used internationally to help understand aggression and offending, and to identify people with mental illnesses entering prisons.

Recently, he worked on the development of the Victoria Police Screening Assessment for Family Violence, which assists frontline police officers in their decision-making about the level of risk family violence perpetrators pose. This tool is now being adopted by police services across Australia.

Professor Ogloff received a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award in 2019 for his work in understanding why people offend, and developing mechanisms to reduce the likelihood of people offending.

Professor Ogloff is also the Executive Director of Psychological Services and Research for the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare), the state’s forensic mental health service. He also regularly undertakes psychological assessments of offenders and forensic patients, assessing some of Australia’s most notorious criminals for the courts and other decision-making bodies.

In 2015, Professor Ogloff was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to education and to the law.

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