Rate My Professor Elizabeth Orr

Dr. Elizabeth Orr serves as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work within the School of Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of New England. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Social Work, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy. Her academic and research interests center on action research and critical social work, with a focus on feminist social work practice, efforts toward gender equality in Australia, violence against women and their children, good practices by Aboriginal hospital liaison officers and social workers in hospitals, and decolonising Indigenous child welfare. Orr has coordinated units such as HSSW410/HSSW510 Social Work Intervention Models and Skills. In 2011, she received the Lowitja Institute HDR Scholarship top-up for her PhD research on partnerships.

Orr's career includes roles as Action Research Project Leader at Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety Limited (ANROWS) from 2016 to 2017, where she contributed to projects like Building Safe Communities for Women and their Children Action Research Support Initiative and culturally and linguistically diverse initiatives to prevent violence. She has worked as a consultant and community researcher, including with InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence and the NSW Department of Mental Health, and as a teacher at RMIT University. Key publications encompass 'Action Research about Good Practice by Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers and Social Workers in Hospitals in Victoria' (2018, ALAR: Action Learning and Action Research Journal), 'Evidence to action and local action as evidence: Findings from the Building Safe Communities for Women and their Children Action Research Support Initiative' (2018, ANROWS Insights), 'Improving the Service to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders through Innovative Practices Between Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers and Social Workers in Hospitals in Victoria, Australia' (2020, British Journal of Social Work), 'Feminist social work practice and efforts towards gender equality in Australia' (2024), 'Messages for Good Practice: Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers and Hospital Social Workers' (2021), and earlier works such as 'The women’s refuge movement in Victoria' (1994) and 'Women’s Interests and the Australian State: Regulation, Governance and Feminist Services' (1998). Her scholarship advances collaborative social work research with Aboriginal communities to address family violence and promotes innovative hospital practices for Indigenous service users.