Caroline Lenette

Professor Caroline Lenette is a leading scholar at the School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, and Deputy Director of the Big Anxiety Research Centre. Her work integrates anti-colonial theory with creative methodologies in refugee studies and critical suicide research.

• PhD in Social Work and Human Services (QUT, 2011)
• MIntSocDev (UNSW, 2004)

Research Focus: Caroline specializes in arts-based methods for refugee research, cultural safety, decolonial approaches, and participatory action research. Her critical suicide studies examine refugee perspectives on mental health, with recent work on Indigenous models and sociocultural interventions.

Grants: Notable funding includes the 2020 ARC Discovery Grant for research on women marginalized by mental health/disability/refugee status, and the 2021–22 National Disability Research Partnership grant for co-designing resources with Syrian/Iraqi communities.

• Scientific Awards:
  • 2024 UNSW Research Leadership Award
  • 2024 Stanford Top 2% Researcher (Public Health)
  • 2017 EU-Durham Senior Research Fellowship

Supervision: Caroline has guided PhD students on topics including refugee resettlement, participatory theatre, equity labor in higher education, and refugee children's detention experiences. She also supervises Masters and Honors students in areas like neoliberal education policies and visual representations of asylum seekers.

Teaching: Courses include Qualitative Research Methods, Decolonising Research Methods, and Honors-level research presentation skills.