School of Social Science

Miss Natalie Maihi

PhD Candidate
School of Social Science
photo of Natalie Fennell

Natalie Hēni Maihi Fennell

Natalie is a Māori wahine who descends from the Ngāpuhi iwi of the northern points of Aotearoa. She is a PhD candidate, teaching academic and HDR student representative within the School of Social Science. Her doctoral project critically examines international legal responses to sexualised war violence, to radically reimagine justice and accountability for the harms of conflict. Her work is informed by her whakapapa (ancestry) and her experiences as a victim-survivor of domestic and sexual violence and engages with mātauranga (Māori knowledges) and abolition feminism principles to dismantle systems of harm through compassion, healing and relationality.

Natalie’s supervisors are Associate Professor Suzanna Fay and Dr. Joseph Lelliott.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Arts – Criminology and International Relations (2020)
  • Bachelor of Arts – Criminology Honours Class I (2021)
  • Teaching Foundations Certificate (2025)

Awards

  • John Braithwaite Prize in Criminology (2021)
  • UQ Future Leader (2021)
  • HASS Tutor Award (2023)
  • UQ Teaching Excellence Award, Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2024) - Transformative Justice: Providing a safe space for students to challenge normative assumptions about crime and criminal justice, through empathy, humanity and vulnerability.
  • Associate Fellow Higher Education Academy (2025)

 

Research Outputs

  • Bennett, S., Colbert, P., Antrobus, E., Gilmour, J., Hartley, J., Waters, M., Anderson, K., Fennell, N., & Faa, J. (2024). Identifying effective diversionary practice: An exploration of policing, legal and youth justice responses to youth crime. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland.
  • Bennett, S., Gilmour, J., Fennell, N., and Anderson, K. (2022). Effectiveness of police diversionary action. Queensland Police Service
  • Fennell, N., & Fielding, I. (2022). The Protective Services Group and the Queensland Police Service: Cultural Analysis Project. Queensland Police Service.
  • Bennett, S., Fennell, N., & F., Isabella (2021). Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Honours) Review: Focus Group Report. University of Queensland.
  • Bennett, S., Elson-Green, A., Fennell, N., Fielding, I., & Haugh, K. (2021) Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Honours) Review: Survey Report. University of Queensland.
  • Bennett, S., Fennell, N., & Fielding, I. (2021) Engaging Alumni feedback on the Current and Future Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Honours). University of Queensland.
  • Bennett, S., Fennell, N., & Fielding, I. (2021) Engaging Industry feedback on the Current and Future Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Honours). University of Queensland.
  • Bennett, S., Elson-Green, A., Fennell, N., Fielding, I., & Haugh, K. (2021) Engaging Student feedback on the Current and Future Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Honours). University of Queensland.

Presentations

  • Justice for the invisible, inevitable and inescapable (2024), School of Social Science Postgraduate Conference. University of Queensland.
  • The invisible inevitability: An investigation of sexualised war violence as an act of terrorism (2023), HDR Presentations (Justice and Society Research Cluster - School of Social Science).
  • Justice for the inevitable, invisible and unspeakable: Responding to the use of sexual violence during conflict (2023), Transformative Justice Seminar. University of Queensland.

Publications

Journal Article (1)
Conference Papers (2)
Thesis (1)
Research Reports (9)
Seminar Papers (2)

Journal Article

Maihi, Natalie Hēni (2025). Justice for the Invisible, Unspeakable and Inevitable: An Abolition Feminism Analysis of Sexual Violence and the International Criminal Court. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 14 (2), 143-154. doi: 10.5204/ijcjsd.3918

Conference Papers

Maihi, Natalie Hēni (2025). Justice for the invisible, unspeakable and inevitable: an abolition feminism analysis of sexual violence and the international criminal court. Justice Denied: Fighting Widespread Impunity for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV), Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, 2-3 June 2025.
Maihi, Natalie Hēni (2024). Justice for the invisible, inevitable and inescapable. School of Social Science Postgraduate Conference, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, 22 October 2024.

Thesis

Fennell, Natalie Heni Maihi (2021). Providing voice to the voiceless? An intersectional analysis of sexualised war violence and the International Criminal Court. Honours Thesis, School of Social Science - Crime and Justice Group, The University of Queensland.

Research Reports

Staines, Zoe and Fennell, Natalie (2025). Submission to the Policy Review of the Australian Research Council (ARC) National Competitive Grants Program. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
Bennett, S., Colbert, P., Antrobus, E., Gilmour, J., Hartley, J., Waters, M., Anderson, K., Fennell, N. and Faa, J. (2024). Identifying effective diversionary practice: An exploration of policing, legal and youth justice responses to youth crime.. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland.
Fennell, Natalie and Fielding, Isabella (2022). The Protective Services Group and the Queensland Police Service: Cultural Analysis Project. Brisbane, QLD Australia: University of Queensland.
Fielding, Isabella and Fennell, Natalie (2022). Engaging Alumni feedback on the Current and Future Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Honours). Brisbane, QLD Australia: University of Queensland.
Bennett, Sarah, Fennell, Natalie and Fielding, Isabella (2022). Engaging Industry feedback on the Current and Future Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Honours). Brisbane, QLD Australia: University of Queensland.
Bennett, S., Gilmour, J., Fennell, N. and Anderson, K. (2022). Effectiveness of police diversionary action – evaluation report. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The Queensland Police Service.
Bennett, Sarah, Elson-Green, Ashley, Fennell, Natalie, Fielding, Isabella and Haugh, Kimberley (2021). Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Honours) Review: Survey Report. Brisbane, QLD Australia: University of Queensland.
Fennell, Natalie and Fielding, Isabella (2021). Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Honours) Review: Focus Group Report. Brisbane, QLD Australia: University of Queensland.
Bennett, Sarah, Elson-Green, Ashley, Fennell, Natalie, Fielding, Isabella and Haugh, Kimberley (2021). Engaging Student feedback on the Current and Future Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Honours). Brisbane, QLD Australia: University of Queensland.

Seminar Papers

Hēni Maihi, Natalie (2023). Justice for the inevitable, invisible and unspeakable: Responding to the use of sexual violence during conflict. Transformative Justice, Agency and Empowerment. School of Social Science, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane.
Hēni Maihi, Natalie (2023). The invisible inevitability: An investigation of sexualised war violence as an act of terrorism. Justice and Society Research Cluster - HDR Presentations. School of Social Science, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Queensland, Australia.