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Dr Meg Foster is a Chancellor's Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney, affiliated with the Faculty of Design and Society and the Department of Social and Political Sciences. She is also a member of the Australian Centre for Public History and serves as Associate Dean Research Office. Previously, she was a Mary Bateson Research Fellow at Newnham College, University of Cambridge (2020-2023) and has held various research positions at UNSW Sydney.
Dr Foster earned her PhD from UNSW Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Sydney. She has completed several microcredentials related to Indigenous curriculum development and inclusive teaching practices at UTS, demonstrating her commitment to decolonizing historical practice.
Meg Foster is an award-winning historian specializing in banditry, settler colonial and public history with a focus on Australian bushranging. Her research explores the impact of the colonial past on current attitudes to crime and policing, employing intersectional approaches that examine race, class and gender histories alongside imperial, colonial, ethnographic and public histories. Her work challenges traditional narratives of Australian history by highlighting marginalized figures and perspectives, particularly those of non-white and female bushrangers, as showcased in her critically acclaimed book 'Boundary Crossers: the hidden history of Australia's other bushrangers' (2022).
Dr Foster's scholarly output reveals a trajectory from traditional academic historical research toward increasingly public-facing scholarship. Her recent publications demonstrate sophisticated engagement with both colonial legal history and contemporary issues of representation, while maintaining rigorous methodological approaches. She has established herself as a leading voice in Australian historical scholarship, particularly in the areas of crime history and settler colonial studies.
- Aboriginal History Award from the History Council of New South Wales
- Shortlisted for the Magarey Medal in Biography
- Longlisted for the British Academy Book Prize in Global Cultural Understanding
- Longlisted for the Davitt Award in non-fiction crime writing
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (UK) in 2023
- Recipient of the ABC Top 5 Humanities Media Residency
Dr Foster actively supervises PhD and MPhil students at UTS and has served as an examiner for MPhil candidates at Cambridge. She has received research funding including the 'Beyond the Platypus Man' grant for connecting museum collections through creative practice research. Her teaching spans Australian colonial history, crime history, and public history methodologies, with a particular focus on making historical knowledge accessible to diverse audiences.
Dr Foster maintains a robust presence in public history through extensive collaborations with artists, media producers, and cultural institutions. She has worked as a historical consultant for ABC Education, SBS documentaries, and various artistic projects exploring Australian history, demonstrating her commitment to bridging academic research with public engagement through accessible formats including podcasts, radio appearances, and public talks.
