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INTRODUCING THE POSTGRAD SUB-COMMITTEE

The postgrad sub-committee play a key role in supporting our TASA postgraduate members.
The sub-committee represents these members on TASA’s Executive Committee and is responsible for running a range of events and initiatives each year.

The first Postgraduate Executive position began in 2003 and it is now in its tenth successive term (2021-2022).
In 2013, the Postgraduate Sub-Committee was established by the then Postgraduate Executive Representative, Karen Soldatic, for the term 2013 – 2014.

Key areas of focus for the sub-committee include: establishing international networks with similar postgraduate organisations;
providing helpful resources, such as the postgraduate transition to employment; and developing TASA postgraduate web strategies.
Since forming, the committee has worked together on several projects, including the creation of this new website.

Meet our 2025-2026 Postgraduate Portfolio Leader below!

Molly Saunders - Postgraduate Portfolio Leader

As a PhD Candidate at the University of New South Wales, Molly is exploring women with disability's ideals of justice using a case study of the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme. Framed by Martha Nussbaum's capabilities approach, her research aims to expand our understanding of gendered and disabled experiences and expectations of disability support policies. As a Research Associate at the Australian National University, Molly is also supporting a co-designed research project on the experiences of young people with disability and young carers in relation to institutional listening.

Larney Peerenboom - Co-Vice Chair

Larney Peerenboom is a PhD candidate at Deakin University and a casual academic at Australian Catholic University. Her research is situated in the sociology of religion and explores women’s spiritualities after experiencing church hurt in Australian megachurches. Using qualitative interviews and a constructivist grounded theory approach, she examines gender, power dynamics in religious institutions, and emerging spiritualities, contributing to broader discussions on religious transformation in contemporary Australia.

Sivaan Walker - Co-Vice Chair

Sivaan is a PhD student at the University of New South Wales. Her research investigates media use and its influence on creative practice and artefacts. Sivaan is also an artist who has exhibited work both nationally and internationally. She is interested in creative social research methodologies to support non-linear and rhizomatic thinking.

Brooklyn Donnelly - Communications Office

Brooklyn is a PhD Candidate in the School of Social Sciences at University of Tasmania. Her PhD research explores regional and rural access to abortion care in Australia using Bourdieusian framework and a mixed methods approach to data collection. Her broader research interests include women's health, gender, and feminist sociologies.

Eibhlis Moore

Eibhlis Moore is a third-year PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Melbourne. Her PhD is exploring the working lives and current employment experiences of women aged 45 and over who work in customer service in retail and hospitality. Her broader research interests include gender, care and work, emotions and intimacies, and narrative methods.

Xavier Mills

Xavier Mills is a PhD candidate at Swinburne University of Technology. His doctoral research is an institutional ethnography examining the ruling relations that govern the everyday lives of queer families. Primarily, he uses a queer deconstructive approach to understand how certain forms of family are upheld as ‘normal’, which has a generalising effect on queer folk.

Joelle Moore

Joelle Moore is currently undertaking her PhD with the School of Social Science at the University of Queensland - her thesis explores older private renters experiences of 'home' and ageing in place. She has 20 years experience as a social researcher and project manager and her research interests include housing equality and urban sociology. She is enthusiastic about the theory and policy behind liveable cities and spaces, moving beyond houses and developments to create meaningful homes and places.

Jay Caldwell

Jay Caldwell is a PhD candidate with the School of Culture History & Language at the Australian National University. He is looking at universities in the Pacific Islands, particularly the way higher education institutions contribute to producing conceptions of security for Pacific peoples. His professional career spans education and public service, and he has led executive education programs here at ANU in recent years.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

TASA holds committee elections every 2 years.
The next one, in 2026, will nominate for 2027-2028 Executive positions.

For an outline of the election process, check our Terms of Reference.

Explore other ways to get involved with our Postgraduate Hub.

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Past Sub-Committees

2023 - 2024

Richa George - Monash University (Chair/elected Postgraduate Portfolio Leader)

Mavis Boamah – Swinburne University

Natalie Calleja – University of Melbourne

Estelle Keerthana – Deakin University

Sarah Alzoubi – Western Sydney University

Caitlan McLean – Torrens University

2021 - 2022

Anthony K J Smith (UNSW - Jan 2022) & Dorinda 't Hart (UWA - Jan 2022 - Nov 2022) (Chair/elected Postgraduate Portfolio Leader)

Richa George - Monash University

Bernardo Tomás Dewey - University of Western Australia

Sam Miles - Monash University

Laura Simpson Reeves - University of Queensland

Defeng Jin - University of New South Wales

2019 - 2020

Ben Lohmeyer (Chair/elected Postgraduate Portfolio Leader)

Marina Khan - Western Sydney University

Simon Copland - Australian National University

Claire Moran - Monash University

Emma Barnard - The University of Melbourne

Anthony Smith - The University of New South Wales

2017 - 2018

Ash Watson - UNSW (Chair/elected Postgraduate Portfolio Leader)

Ben Lohmeyer - Flinders University

Josie Anne Reade - University of Melbourne

Milovan Savic - Swinburne University of Technology

Zoei Sutton - Flinders University

2015 - 2016

Christina Malatzky - University of Melbourne (Chair/elected Postgraduate Portfolio Leader)

Ashlin Lee - University of Tasmania

Jennie Haarsager-Lieske - University of the Sunshine Coast

Laura Gobey - Deakin University

Ly Phan - University of Sydney

Monika Dryburgh - University of Melbourne

Thomas Antwi-Bosiakoh - Macquarie University

2013 - 2014

In July 2012, TASA Executive agreed to establish a Postgraduate Sub-Committee from 2013 as the role

had expanded since its commencement in 2003. In the 2013-2014 period, this sub-committee expanded

from an initial two (2) members through to a total of eight (8) members. The eight (8) representatives were:

Karen Soldatic - UNSW (Chair/elected Postgraduate Portfolio Leader)

Thomas Antwi Bosiakoh - Macquare University

Monika Dryburgh - Melbourne University

Laura Gobey - Deakin University

Jennie Haarsager-Lieske - University of Sunshine Coast

Anthony Kimpton - University of Queensland