Rate My Professor Ben Farr-Wharton

Professor Ben Farr-Wharton serves as Associate Dean (Management), Professor of Workforce Strategy, and Deputy-Director of the Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Centre within Edith Cowan University's School of Business and Law. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy from Southern Cross University, awarded in 2015. Previously at the University of Technology Sydney Business School, he was named Top Postgraduate Lecturer and Top Undergraduate Lecturer from 2016 to 2018 and received the Excellence in Early Career Research Award in 2017. An experienced academic, he partners with public sector organisations and high-risk industries to deliver evidence-based workforce solutions, leading projects with policing, emergency services, and local government agencies. He is a committee member of the Australian Human Resources Institute Research Committee and a non-voting member of the Western Australian Police Force Workforce Committee.

Professor Farr-Wharton's research specializations encompass organisational compassion, employee wellbeing, stress, workplace safety, policing and first responders, and public sector management. Over the past decade, he has published more than fifty peer-reviewed journal articles, frequently speaks at industry conferences, and contributes to public discourse on workforce wellbeing. Key publications include 'Forced flexibility and remote working: Opportunities and challenges in the new normal' (Franken et al., Journal of Management & Organization, 2021), 'Why lecturers still matter: The impact of lecturer-student exchange on student engagement and intention to leave university prematurely' (Farr-Wharton et al., Higher Education, 2018), 'The role of team compassion in mitigating the impact of hierarchical bullying' (Farr-Wharton et al., Journal of Management and Organization, 2023), and 'Managing the impact of workplace trauma for Australian first responders: Harmonising policy and practice' (Hernandez Grande et al., Public Money and Management, 2025). His contributions have earned awards such as the 2023 Top Cited Article Award (Australian Journal of Public Administration), 2022 Best Paper Award (British Academy of Management), 2021 Best Overall Conference Paper (Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management), Pieter Van Hooff Best PhD Research Presentation Award (Southern Cross University, 2014), and Australian Postgraduate Award (2012).