Personal details
- Name
- Dr Lisa Stafford
- Position(s)
- Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Health,
School - Public Health and Social Work - IHBI Membership
Institute of Health Biomedical Innovation (IHBI),
IHBI Health Projects,
IHBI Public Health and Social Work - HDHS - Discipline *
- Human Geography, Policy and Administration, Urban and Regional Planning
- Phone
- +61 7 3138 4595
- lisa.stafford@qut.edu.au
- Location
- View location details (QUT staff and student access only)
- Identifiers and profiles
-
- Qualifications
-
PhD (Queensland University of Technology)
- Professional memberships
and associations Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG) – Member
Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) – Full Member
Disability Leadership Institute (DLI) – Member
- Keywords
-
Disability, Spatial Justice, Inclusive Communities and regions, Universal Design and Sustainable neighbourhood, transport and open-space planning, Social and economic participation, participatory research methods, lived Experiences & phenomenology, Children and young people with disabilities and diverse children's geographies, Place-based, Education to work pathways, Participation
Biography
Dr Lisa Stafford is a social scientist, social/community planner and human geographer with 20 years’ experience in the field of disability and inclusion practice and policy with specific focus on the social-spatial needs of children, young people and their families. Lisa also identifies as a chronically-ill disabled academic. Lisa is also the associate program lead of Ecologies of Justice in Centre for Justice QUT https://www.qut.edu.au/law/research/centre-for-justice
Lisa’s expertise is in participation and inclusive communities, and was recently awarded the highly competitive Australian Research Council – DECRA Fellowship 2019 in Inclusive community planning for people with disabilities in regional areas https://www.planninginclusivecommunities.com/
Her other strengths include the design and use of emancipatory creative participatory methods that enable all people, in particular children and people with complex communication needs, to be heard in research and engagement.
In 2018 alone she was awarded nearly half a million dollars in research funding:
- 2018 – $110,000 grant– Empowering Children’s Voices in services research project with UnitingCare – Lead CI
- 2018 – $383,960.00 – ARC DECRA 2019 – DE190101512 – category 1. Title: Inclusive community planning for people with disabilities in regional areas.
In addition to her work as an academic, Dr Stafford has worked in practitioner, management and director roles in government and non-government organisations. Dr Stafford’s work has included the development and management of All Abilities Playground projects across Queensland.
Research Specialities: Rights-based inclusive research approaches, interpretative policy analysis, phenomenology, person-environment interaction studies (environmental psychology, systems).
Research Interests:
- Inclusive Communities and Social-Spatial Justice. Interested in creating inclusion and equality through understanding the complexity of social and spatial injustices. Specific areas of interest: neighbourhoods and regional centres, mobility studies, inclusive play spaces, and regional perspectives. Interested in Spatial Justice theorising, Ableism and Body-space politics.
- Participation. Interest in understanding the meaning of participation and the journey (routines and processes) to achieve genuine participation for people with disabilities. Specific interest is in children and young people with complex needs, and processes and practices for empowering their “voice”. Critical Disability Theory, Phenomenology, Interactional models and Rights-based inclusive approaches are common frames to examine participation.
- Transition of Young people with disabilities. Interested in the transitional journey from education to work for young adults with disabilities. This includes taking a systems approach to understanding the complex policy/programmatic, structural inequality, social-cultural, and geographical influences that shape experiences and participation outcomes.
Teaching
Supervision topics include:
- Disability Social & Economic Participation
- Disability and childhoods
- Inclusive Communities & Spatial Justice
- Universal Design
- Person Environment Studies & Everydayness
Supervision research methods include:
- Phenomenology – Lived experiences
- Interpretative Policy Analysis
- Post-occupancy evaluations
- Participatory research methods
Teaching:
Current lecturer/unit coordinator – SWB306 – People, Community, Disability; SWB102 – Human Development and Behaviour; SWB212- Community and Place Base Practice in School of Public Health and Social Work.
Past teaching: School of Design’s undergraduate theoretical subjects: DTB403 Design Psychology and DTB504 Design in Society.
Also guest lectured in Masters level unit LCN601 – Designing Spaces for Learning on topics of inclusion and universal design.
Experience
Translating knowledge to practice – Workshops/Seminars/ External Service Engagement
- 2020 – Online Seminar on Planning Inclusively: Approaches To Making Our Communities Just For All Hosted by Griffith Cities Research Institute and Urban and Environmental Planning Studies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTkZmmn3SIA&feature=youtu.be
- 2020 – Health Dialogue Seminar on Inclusion and Disability Research https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9AIRnWkG3c
- Lightening Talk panellist on Space, Place for Centre for Justice and Justice on Tuesday, 25 August, 2020
- 2020 – QDN Power of Peers Advisory Group member
- 2019 – Appointed to the Virtual Centre Expert Advisory Panel for Women With Disability Australia
- 2018 invited to deliver Australia Awards Fellowships – AAF QUT workshop with representative from Tonga on building inclusive communities for people with disabilities.
- 2018 invited to deliver workshop to Vietnam Department of Transport staff on the development of inclusive transport and inclusive economic development on the intersection of gender and disability. Australia Awards Short Course: Project Implementation to Optimise Gender Outcomes-AUS4REFORM.
- 2018 – Building Inclusive Communities presentation– NDIS and Business Opportunities – Gympie Regional Council and Chamber of Commerce – 20 June 2018 https://gympiechamber.com.au/?tribe_events=national-disability-insurance-scheme-opportunities-for-business
- 2018 – Hosting Team Member, for Changing Lives, Changing Communities Forum – QCOSS, QDN, ADCQ. Brisbane 27-28 November 2018. https://www.qcoss.org.au/qcoss-event-changing-lives-changing-communities-brisbane
- 2017, invited to deliver a seminar and design inquiry workshop on community planning and universal design organised by Sunshine Coast Regional Council and USC in June 2017; https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/News-Centre/Attend-the-Inclusive-Tourism-and-Community-Planning-Forum-300517
- 2017, invited to deliver a master class to Stockland in Sydney on behalf of Touched By Olivia Foundation on inclusive environments in shopping centres 2017.
- 2017 invited to speak to Indonesia Ministry for Disability visit on the Social Model of Disability and Inclusive Spaces – Cases of play spaces.
- 2017, invited to deliver Australia Awards Fellowships – AAF QUT workshop with women with disabilities from Ghana on building inclusive communities for women and girls with disabilities.
Key Note Speaker
Stafford, Lisa. (October, 2015). Round Table 3. Children, Young People and Everyday Environments. “Through Their Journey’s: Understanding inclusivity of everyday environments for Children, Young People and Families. “ State and Status of Inclusive Design in the Australian Context Workshop, 20 October 2015, Brisbane.
Research Translation Design Practice – Inclusive PlaySpaces
In 2003, Dr Stafford first seeded the idea of creating public all abilities playgrounds as a form of respite and enhanced community participation for children and families. This evolved into the development of the award-winning Pioneer Park’s All Abilities Playground at Landsborough. Since this time, she has been intensively involved in creating and promoting inclusive play-space design. She developed and project managed the expansion of the pilot play-space into the $5M funded Queensland All Abilities Playground Project for Queensland Government between 2007-2010. This project engaged 16 local governments and industry to create 16 All Abilities Playground as well as an e-All abilities playground develop by sonakids. Since this time, Dr Stafford has been involved in more advisory roles such as National Inclusive Playspace Strategy as well working with local councils on identifying problems and solutions (access audits and ideas) to make public parks into inclusive playspaces.
Awards
- 2018 – $383,960.00 – ARC DECRA 2019
- International awards program, ACCESS-IT – best practice in relation to accessibility All Abilities e-Playground ACCESS-IT 2009 Best Practice Publication. – Online All Abilities e-Playground created by Sonakids in conjunction with QAAPP and Gold Coast City Council, provided two gateways to playing the same online program – real example access for all.
- QLD Government Premiers Awards – Highly Commended, Engaging and Serving Communities, Pioneer Park All Abilities Playground. Sunshine Coast Region, Disability Services Queensland 2006
- PRAV/Parks & Leisure Australia – NationalPlayground Design Award – Pioneer Park All Abilities Playground 2006;
- Kids Safe – Certificate of Commendation, Innovation in Industrial Design – Pioneer Park All Abilities Playground 2006.
Publications
For publications by this staff member, visit QUT ePrints, the University's research repository.
Research projects
Grants and projects (Category 1: Australian Competitive Grants only)
- Title
- Inclusive Community Planning for People with Disabilities in Regional Areas
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DE190101512
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
- Title
- Seamless Journeys to Work for Young Adults with Physical Disabilities
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP150100168
- Start year
- 2015
- Keywords
Supervision
Supervision topics include:
- Disability Social & Economic Participation
- Disability and childhoods
- Inclusive Communities & Spatial Justice
- Universal Design
- Person Environment Studies & Everydayness
Supervision research methods include:
- Phenomenology – Lived experiences
- Interpretative Policy Analysis
- Post-occupancy evaluations
- Participatory research methods
Completed PhDs: Steele, Emily. (2017) The right choice? An interpretive policy analysis of assistive technology in Australian disability services. UQ.
Current supervisions
- Crippling Comedies: Symbolic Power in Comic Representations of Disability
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Adjunct Associate Professor Barbara Adkins, Adjunct Associate Professor Vivienne Muller, Associate Professor Bree Hadley - BEYOND BOOM, BUST AND COAL DUST UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY ACTORS IN JUST TRANSITIONS: PREFIGURING FUTURES
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Adjunct Associate Professor Peter Westoby, Professor Mark Brough - Liveability disparities and the socioeconomic exclusion of people with disabilities in regional areas of Australia
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Steven McPhail, Dr Sanjeewa Kularatna - Developing Dementia Friendly Communities
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Judith Burton, Professor Evonne Miller