About the research team
The research team comprised a wide mix of skills and experience with 3 chief investigators and several researchers contributing to specific aspects of the project.
Professor Rhonda Sharp, Professor of Economics and Research Chair at the former Hawke Research Institute, University of South Australia. Professor Sharp has an international reputation in the field of gender and government budgets and has undertaken research and consultancies for several governments and international agencies in the Asia-Pacific region. She was the project team leader and its chief researcher. She was responsible for the design, conceptual framework and management of the project.
Back: Ray Broomhill, Rhonda Sharp, Herminio Xavier, Monica Costa, Jan Edwards. Front: Sanjugta Vas Dev, Diane Elson
Emeritus Professor Diane Elson, Department of Sociology, Essex University, United Kingdom
Diane Elson's contribution to the project includes assisting in the research design and qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data gathered by the research team. She is an expert on gender-responsive budgeting and a member of the UK Women's Budget Group. She has a long record of research on gender and development and is included as one of the key thinkers in the book Fifty Key Thinkers on Development (edited by David Simon, Routledge, 2005).
Professor Siobhan Austin, Department of Economics and Finance, Curtin University of Technology, Australia. Professor Austen’s primary responsibility was the project's quantitative analysis involving large databases for the two country case studies of Indonesia and Timor Leste. She is Director of the Women in Social and Economic Research (WISER) and has undertaken a range of research projects relating to women's economic circumstances and empowerment.
Monica Costa, was the full-time research assistant on the project contributing to the collection of the quantitative and qualitative data for the project, including field research in Indonesia and Timor, analysing the data and developing the website. She holds academic qualifications in economics and gender and development studies. She has extensive experience in policy making and its implementation in fragile states and has held positions as a gender advisor to governments in the Asia Pacific region, including Timor-Leste.
Dr Sanjugta Vas Dev, was a research assistant on the project and a contributor to the country profiles. She completed her PhD on the links between non-government organisations and government in Malaysia and Australia. She has been engaged in several research projects on gender and development with a focus on poverty and public expenditure management. Dr Vas Dev was a member of the team (led by Professor Sharp) that undertook research and training in Samoa and the Republic of the Marshall Islands for the Asian Development Bank funded project, Gender- and Youth-Sensitive Public Expenditure Management in the Pacific.
Dr Reina Ichii, was a contributor to some of the project country profiles. She is currently a lecturer in the School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning at RMIT. Reina’s PhD was on child care policy measures and gender-responsive budgeting.
Dr Ray Broomhill, is Adjunct Associate Professor in Labour Studies at the Australian Institute for Social Research, University of Adelaide. He has contributed to the project through academic advice and assistance with the research design and preparation of research materials. Dr Broomhill’s research interests are in the fields of global political economy, gender studies and Australian public policy. He has collaborated with Professor Rhonda Sharp on a range of gender-responsive budgeting research projects.
Dr Anuradha Mundkur, Associate Director, Centre for Development Studies, Flinders University, Australia. Dr Mundkur contributed to the development of the country profiles, glossary and explanatory notes on key indicators used in this study.
Dr Jan Edwards, Adjunct Research Fellow, University of South Australia, Australia. Dr Edwards contributed to the project with advice on the education sector and its gender implications in the context of Indonesia. She has extensive experience on education and gender issues in a wide range of countries, including Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. She has been engaged in a range of research programs on education policy and its implementation.
Herminio Xavier, Researcher, Secretary of State for Promotion of Equality, Timor-Leste was a participant in a research mentoring component of the project. Mr Xavier is a research officer in the government department dedicated to gender equality in Timor-Leste, the Secretary of State for Promotion of Equality. Herminio visited Adelaide to establish relationships with key organisations in South Australia and discuss with the project team avenues for sustainably expanding gender-responsive budgeting in Timor-Leste.
Kate Leeson, is the editor at the Hawke Research Institute, University of South Australia. She provided advice and assistance in the development of the project's website.
Other important contributors
A particular teleconference with Debbie Budlender, CASE, Cape Town, South Africa provided critical contexts to gender-responsive budgeting in several countries in the region. Barbara Brougham of Writeword, Adelaide, Australia developed the project logo and provided editing assistance. Thanks to the many other individuals and institutions in the Asia-Pacific region have contributed their experiences and stories to this website. The project was resourced by an Research Development Award, funded by the Australian Government.
