Academy Fellow

Professor Greg Marston has a national and international reputation as a leading critical social scientist with a deep commitment to research translation and impact, building on his experience of working in policy and research roles within national and state peak bodies before entering the academy. Professor Marston continues his commitment to research translation in his role as Director of the Centre for Policy Futures at The University of Queensland and in his capacity as the inaugural Coordinator of the Qld Decarbonisation Hub, a $3M partnership between seven Qld universities, the Qld Government other industry groups, to progress an inclusive and equitable transition on the path to net-zero.

His research has had significant impact on social policy and professional practice in fields such as housing policy, economic security, poverty, work futures, the mixed economy of welfare and the social dimensions of climate change. His early work on adapting critical discourse analysis (CDA) for social policy analysis has been adopted by thousands of subsequent studies. Professor Marston’s work has also advanced theories of interpretative policy analysis and policy implementation, with his works on policy implementation and ‘street-level bureaucracy’ having been described by international scholars as the first to bring a street-level approach to research on welfare state policy, politics, and management. Similarly, his approach to ‘evidence-based policymaking’ prioritises the voices and perspectives of those directly impacted by social policies.

Prof Marston’s empirical research has advanced sociological accounts of the intersections between the social security system, unemployment and lived experiences of poverty and progressed a critical analysis of the relations between power, politics & policy. He has been invited as keynote or plenary speaker to numerous academic and industry conferences, including invited plenary addresses in Germany on economic security (2023), the Netherlands on street-level bureaucracy (2019), Sweden on workfare (2017), the USA on welfare reform (2010), New Zealand on social security (2008), and in the UK on discourse and citizenship (2005). Within Australia, he has also been an invited plenary speaker at the National Employment Services Australia conference (2023), the Sydney Ideas conference (2020), the Australian Youth Summit (2020), and he was the keynote speaker at The Australian Social Policy Conference (2017). He also regularly speaks at national conferences run by peak social and community service bodies (e.g., Disability Employment Australia, Jobs Australia, Australian Council of Social Service).

Director, Centre for Policy Futures, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Queensland, 2024 to present.

Deputy Executive Dean, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Queensland, 2020-2023.

Head of School, School of Social Science, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Queensland, 2016-2020.

Professor of Social Policy, School of Public Health and Human Services, Queensland University of Technology, 2011-2016.  

Associate Professor, School of Social Work & Human Services, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland 2004-2010.

Research Fellow, Centre for Applied Social Research, RMIT University, 2002-2004.

The Australian Sociological Association

ALTC National Teaching Excellence Award

Australian Human Rights Award Non-Fiction

Mayer Journal Prize – Australian Journal of Political Science

Best Article Award – Housing Studies

Norma Parks Award for best article - Australian Social Work

1. Marston, G. Mendes, P. Humpage, L. Bielefeld, S. Staines, Z. (2022) More harm than good? Compulsory Income Management in Australia and New Zealand, Policy Press, Bristol.

2. Holtum, P. and Marston, G. (2022) Business or Pleasure?: A comparison of migrant and non-migrant Uber drivers in Australia, Work, Employment and Society, 36(2), 290-309.

3. Bainton, B. Owen, J. Kemp, D. and Marston, G. (2021) Just Transitions and Global Mining, Sustainable Development 29(4) pp 624-634

4. Marston, G. Zhang, J. Peterie, M. Ramia, G, Cooke, E and Patulny, R. (2019) To Move or not to Move: Mobility Decision Making in the Context of Unemployment and Conditionality, Mobilities, 54 (1) pp 24-39. 

5. Marston, G. (2019) Basic Income in Australia: Implementation Challenges, in (eds) Klein, E., Mays, J., & Dunlop, T. Implementing a Basic Income in Australia: Pathways Forward, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, Switzerland, pp 23-36.