We welcome James O'Donnell, Meg Kingsley and Muhammad Ulil Absor who have recently commenced their PhD study with the School of Demography.

James O'Donnell's PhD research is titled 'Understanding the dynamics of homelessness in Australia'. Through this work, he will be exploring how existing administrative, Census and survey datasets can be used to improve our understanding of the nature, extent and dynamics of homelessness. James is particularly interested in analysing and modelling the ways in which people transition between housing, homelessness and homeless services.

James completed a Master of Social Research (Advanced) in the School of Demography in 2015. He previously worked in the Australian Public Service in the Department of Employment and the Department of Health before spending time working in the community sector researching housing and homelessness issues in Canberra.

Meg Kingsley also completed a Master of Social Research (Advanced) in 2015. Originally from Perth, she has been in Canberra for about 10 years. She previously worked as a consultant in a private policy and economics firm, and in labour market research and analysis in the Australian Government. Her undergraduate degree is in Psychology. Meg hopes that her PhD project can draw on these different experiences. Her thesis is tentatively titled ‘Inequality in the work-family interface and the influence on children’s socio-emotional and cognitive outcomes in Australia’.

Muhammad Ulil Absor is from Indonesia and holds a position as a junior researcher at the State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. He completed a Master of Social Research (Advanced), specializing in Social Development and Policy, in 2014. The title of his research project is 'Enabling aged friendly environment in rural areas: Implication to social protection and successful aging in Indonesia'.