Researcher biography
Zoe Staines is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Science at The University of Queensland. Her research is deeply interdisciplinary, critically examining social policy, gender and work, welfare conditionality, coloniality, and rural/remote crime and governance, with a central focus on addressing structural injustice. Before entering academia, she held senior research and policy roles in government and the not-for-profit sector. She is currently Co-Editor-In-Chief of leading interdisciplinary journal, the Australian Journal of Social Issues (Q1).
Publications
Books
Staines, Zoe, Hoffstaedter, Gerhard and Binnie, Ned (2023). Introduction to the Social Sciences. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/3e239ee
Scott, John and Staines, Zoe (2023). Island Criminology. Bristol, United Kingdom: Bristol University Press. doi: 10.2307/j.ctv35n89qt
Marston, Greg, Humpage, Louise, Peterie, Michelle, Mendes, Philip, Bielefeld, Shelley and Staines, Zoe (2022). Compulsory income management in Australia and New Zealand: more harm than good?. Bristol, United Kingdom: Policy Press. doi: 10.46692/9781447361510
Book Chapters
Watego, Chelsea, Brady, Karla, Hassall, Keryn, Macoun, Alissa, Mukandi, Bryan, Singh, David, Staines, Zoe and Strakosch, Elizabeth (2025). Understanding and transforming indigenous policy evaluation. Bureaucratic occupation: government and First Nations peoples. (pp. 275-291) edited by Julie Lahn, Elizabeth Strakosch and Patrick Sullivan. London, United Kingdom: Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-67733-5_16
Staines, Zoe (2024). Whiteness in Criminology: Indigenous Overrepresentation. Handbook of Critical Whiteness. (pp. 365-382) Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-97-5085-6_12
Emzin, Chris, Scott, John and Staines, Zoe (2023). Feeling black and blue: Indigenous police liaison officers in the Torres Strait Region. Policing the global south: colonial legacies, pluralities, partnerships, and reform. (pp. 242-254) edited by Danielle Watson, Sara N. Amin, Wendell C. Wallace, Oluwagbenga (Michael) Akinlabi and Juan Carlos Ruiz-Vasquez. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003126409-22
Staines, Zoe (2023). Whiteness in criminology: Indigenous overrepresentation. Handbook of critical Whiteness: deconstructing dominant discourses across disciplines. (pp. 1-18) edited by Jioji Ravulo, Katarzyna Olcoń, Tinashe Dune, Alex Workman and Pranee Liamputtong. Singapore: Springer . doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-1612-0_12-1
Peterie, Michelle, Marston, Greg, Humpage, Louise, Mendes, Philip, Bielefeld, Shelley and Staines, Zoe (2022). Subjectification, suffering and emotional resistance: life on the Cashless Debit Card. Social suffering in the neoliberal age: state power, logics and resistance. (pp. 149-165) edited by Karen Soldatic and Louise St Guillaume. Abingdon, Oxon United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003131779-12
Marston, Greg and Staines, Zoe (2021). Losing sight: social security policy in Australia. Social policy in Australia: understanding for action. (pp. 214-237) edited by Alison McLelland, Paul Smyth and Greg Marston. Docklands, VIC, Australia: Oxford University Press.
Marston, Greg and Staines, Zoe (2019). Social policy. Australian politics and policy. (pp. 687-706) edited by Peter Chen, Nicholas Barry, John Butcher, David Clune, Ian Cook, Adele Garnier, Yvonne Haigh, Sara C. Motta and Marija Taflaga. Sydney, Australia: Sydney University Press. doi: 10.30722/sup.9781743326671
Marston, Greg and Staines, Zoe (2019). Social policy. Australian politics and policy. (pp. 547-559) edited by Chen, Peter, Barry, Nicholas, Butcher, John, Clune, David, Cook, Ian, Garnier, Adele, Haigh, Yvonne, Motta, Sara and Taflaga, Marija. Sydney, NSW Australia: Sydney University Press.
Journal Articles
Staines, Zoe, Marston, Greg, Peterie, Michelle, Bielefeld, Shelley, Mendes, Philip and Roche, Steven (2024). An intersectional feminist analysis of compulsory income management in Australia. Journal of Social Policy, 1-19. doi: 10.1017/s0047279424000205
Staines, Zoe, Smith, Kiah, Plage, Stefanie, Nahar Lata, Lutfun, Fay, Suzanna, Zheng, Zhaoxi, Simpson Reeves, Laura, Beazley, Helen, Kuskoff, Ella, Clarke, Andrew, McGowan, Glenys, Shevellar, Lynda and Prangnell, Jonathan (2023). Social science as social action to address inequalities. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 59 (1), 108-127. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.272
Staines, Zoe (2022). Work and wellbeing in remote Australia: moving beyond punitive ‘workfare’. Journal of Sociology, 59 (4), 144078332211146-827. doi: 10.1177/14407833221114669
Humpage, Louise, Bielefeld, Shelley, Marston, Greg, Staines, Zoe, Peterie, Michelle and Mendes, Philip (2022). Responsibilising young benefit recipients: Income management and financial capability in New Zealand. Critical Social Policy, 43 (2), 1-22. doi: 10.1177/02610183221106923
Olson, Rebecca E., Ek, Xuan Wen, Staines, Zoe, Goh, Felicia and Marshall, Henry (2022). Imperatives of health or happiness: narrative constructions of long-term smoking after undergoing lung screening. Health, 27 (6), 136345932210991-1134. doi: 10.1177/13634593221099108
Staines, Zoe (2022). Social quarantining in the construction and maintenance of white Australia. Sociology, 57 (5) 003803852211290, 1-23. doi: 10.1177/00380385221129046
Roche, Steven, Mendes, Philip, Marston, Greg, Peterie, Michelle, Bielefeld, Shelley, Staines, Zoe and Humpage, Louise (2021). How effective is conditional welfare support for enhancing child wellbeing? An examination of compulsory income management (welfare payment quarantining) in Australia. Children and Youth Services Review, 131 106254, 106254. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106254
Staines, Zoe and Zahnow, Renee (2021). Exploring the politics of strain: crime and welfare in remote Indigenous Australia. Social Policy and Administration, 56 (3), 452-471. doi: 10.1111/spol.12778
Staines, Zoe, Scott, John and Morton, James (2021). 'Without uniform I am a community member, uncle, brother, grandad': community policing in Australia's Torres Strait Region. Journal of Criminology, 54 (3), 265-282. doi: 10.1177/00048658211005516
Peterie, Michelle, Marston, Greg, Humpage, Louise, Mendes, Philip, Bielefeld, Shelley and Staines, Zoe (2021). The trope of the vulnerable child in conditional welfare discourses: an Australian case study. Journal of Sociology, 58 (4), 517-534. doi: 10.1177/14407833211008984
Roche, Steven, Mendes, Philip, Marston, Greg, Bielefeld, Shelley, Peterie, Michelle, Staines, Zoe and Humpage, Louise (2021). Examining the adverse consequences of welfare conditionality: a case study of compulsory income management in the regional community of Ceduna, Australia. Social Policy and Society, 21 (3), 1-16. doi: 10.1017/S1474746421000063
Scott, John, Staines, Zoe and Morton, James (2021). Crime, justice and social capital in the Torres Strait region. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice (620) 620, 1-13.
Staines, Zoe and Smith, Kiah (2021). Workfare and food in remote Australia: 'I haven't eaten... I'm really at the end...'. Critical Policy Studies, 16 (1), 36-59. doi: 10.1080/19460171.2021.1893198
Mendes, Philip, Roche, Steven, Marston, Greg, Bielefeld, Shelley, Peterie, Michelle, Staines, Zoe and Humpage, Louise (2021). Is conditional welfare an effective means for reducing alcohol and drug abuse? An exploration of compulsory income management across four Australian trial sites. Australian Journal of Political Science, 56 (2), 1-18. doi: 10.1080/10361146.2021.1884646
Staines, Zoe (2021). Australia’s remote workfare policy: rhetoric versus reality of ‘community’ empowerment. Critical Social Policy, 41 (1), 4-24. doi: 10.1177/0261018319897056
Scott, John, Staines, Zoe and Morton, James (2021). Strong communities and justice practices in the Torres Strait. Journal of Sociology, 59 (1) 144078332110312, 1-21. doi: 10.1177/14407833211031299
Staines, Zoe, Marston, Greg, Bielefeld, Shelley, Humpage, Louise, Mendes, Philip and Peterie, Michelle (2020). Governing poverty: compulsory income management and crime in Australia. Critical Criminology, 29 (4), 745-761. doi: 10.1007/s10612-020-09532-2
Mendes, Philip, Roche, Steven, Marston, Greg, Peterie, Michelle, Staines, Zoe and Humpage, Louise (2020). The social harms outweigh the benefits: a study of compulsory income management in Greater Shepparton and Playford. Australian Social Work, 76 (1), 1-15. doi: 10.1080/0312407x.2020.1820536
Staines, Zoe, Moore, Charlotte, Marston, Greg and Humpage, Louise (2020). Big data and poverty governance under Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand's "social investment" policies. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 56 (2) ajs4.129, 1-16. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.129
Scott, John, Staines, Zoe and Morton, James (2020) Crime rates and justice innovations in the Torres Strait Islands. Centre for Justice Briefing Paper, 5: 1-4.
Humpage, Louise, Staines, Zoe, Marston, Greg, Peterie, Michelle, Mendes, Philip and Bielefeld, Shelley (2020). The complexity of convergence: a multi-dimensional analysis of compulsory income management and social investment in New Zealand and Australia. Policy Studies, 43 (4), 1-20. doi: 10.1080/01442872.2020.1783439
Scott, John and Staines, Zoe (2020). Charting the place of islands in criminology: on isolation, integration and insularity. Theoretical Criminology, 25 (4), 136248062091025-600. doi: 10.1177/1362480620910250
Dwyer, Anna, Scott, John and Staines, Zoe (2020). Strangers in a strange land: police perceptions of working in discrete Indigenous communities in Queensland, Australia. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, 22 (1), 1-17. doi: 10.1080/15614263.2020.1759058
Scott, John, Staines, Zoe, Higginson, Angela, Lauchs, Mark, Ryan, Vanessa and Zhen, Liuissa (2020). 'Walking in two worlds': a qualitative review of income management in Cape York. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 80 (1) 1467-8500.12440, 46-63. doi: 10.1111/1467-8500.12440
Staines, Zoe and Scott, John (2019). Crime and colonisation in Australia’s Torres Strait Islands. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 53 (1), 000486581986904-43. doi: 10.1177/0004865819869049
Lauchs, Mark and Staines, Zoe (2019). An analysis of outlaw motorcycle gang crime: are bikers organised criminals?. Global Crime, 20 (2), 69-89. doi: 10.1080/17440572.2019.1583107
Staines, Zoe and Moran, Mark (2019). Complexity and hybrid effects in the delivery and evaluation of youth programs in a remote Indigenous community. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 79 (1) 1467-8500.12371, 3-25. doi: 10.1111/1467-8500.12371
Staines, Zoe (2018). Ground-level impacts of remote employment policy: social disadvantage under the Community Development Programme. Journal of Australian Political Economy (82), 107-132.
Staines, Zoe and Jose, Fiona (2018). Overcoming social disadvantage by investing in Indigenous teenage mothers—an integrated policy approach. Solutions Journal, 9 (2).
Staines, Zoe (2017). Lessons from the recent policy experience in the Indigenous community-employment sector. Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 20 (3), 229-248.
Staines, Zoe (2013). Managing tacit investigative knowledge: measuring investigative thinking styles. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 36 (3), 604-619. doi: 10.1108/PIJPSM-07-2012-0072
Staines, Zoe and Lauchs, Mark (2013). The use of Facebook in tertiary education: a case study of a unit-related Facebook page in a university justice class. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 10 (4), 285-296. doi: 10.1108/ITSE-05-2013-0008
Staines, Zoe and Lauchs, Mark (2013). Students’ engagement with Facebook in a university undergraduate policing unit. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 29 (6), 792-805. doi: 10.14742/ajet.270
Lauchs, Mark and Staines, Zoe (2012). Career path of a corruption entrepreneur. Global Crime, 13 (2), 109-129. doi: 10.1080/17440572.2012.678620
Staines, Zoe (2011). Creativity in policing: building the necessary skills to solve complex and protracted investigations. Ministry of Home Affairs Home Team Journal (3), 133-144.
Dean, Geoff and Staines, Zoe (2011). Capturing investigative knowledge: methodological scaffolding for measuring thinking styles of police investigators. Ministry of Home Affairs Home Team Journal (3), 120-132.
Conference Papers
Staines, Zoe, Marston, Greg, Peterie, Michelle, Bielefeld, Shelley, Mendes, Philip and Roche, Steven (2023). Compulsory cashless welfare programs exacerbate inequalities and poverty for women: an intersectional feminist analysis of ‘Compulsory Income Management’ in Australia. Social Policy Association Annual Conference, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 5-7 July 2023.
Staines, Zoe, Klein, Elise and Perales, Francisco (Paco) (2022). Attitudes towards care as remunerable labour. The Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 28 November - 2 December 2022.
Mendes, Philip, Peterie, Michelle and Staines, Zoe (2022). Compulsory Income Management in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian Sociological Assocation National Conference, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 28 November - 2 December 2022.
Staines, Zoe (2022). Work and wellbeing in remote Australia: considering the potential of a basic income. Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) International Congress, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 28-30 September 2022.
Staines, Zoe and Zahnow, Renee (2021). More welfare cash is associated with lower crime: COVID-19 social security changes and crime in remote Indigenous communities in Queensland (Australia). Australian National University Centre for Social Research & Methods Research Symposium, Canberra, ACT Australia, 26 May 2021.
Staines, Zoe (2021). Punitive webs of welfare conditionality and worsening health/wellbeing in remote Australia. Healthy Societies 2021, Sydney, NSW Australia, 16 November 2021.
Staines, Zoe (2020). Moving away from punitive 'workfare' in remote Australia, but headed in which direction?. TASA: Sociological insights for the now normal, Melbourne, Australia, 23-26 November 2020.
Staines, Zoe (2019). Demonstrate your impact! The realities of evaluating social outcomes under outcome-focused funding frameworks. AIATSIS National Indigenous Research Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 1-3 July 2019.
Staines, Zoe (2019). Income management and crime: rethinking evidence and theory. Australian Social Policy Conference, Sydney, Australia, 9-11 September.
Scott, John and Staines, Zoe (2019). Crime and justice in the Torres Strait Region. Senior Torres Strait Islander Police Forum, Thursday Island, Torres Strait Islands, 19 December 2019. Queensland Police Service.
Lauchs, Mark and Staines, Zoe (2009). Public sector legislation in Queensland: old or new directions?. IPAA National Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 2009. Institute of Public Administration Australia.
Generic Document
Thesis
Staines, Zoe (2013). Knowledge management in criminal investigation: empirical examination and re-conceptualisation of dean's investigative thinking styles. PhD Thesis, School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology.
Research Reports
Staines, Zoe (2025). A UBI for Australia? A nationally representative survey of Australians' views on UBI. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
Staines, Zoe, Klein, Elise and Hunt, Janet (2025). Submission to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS’) ‘Measuring unpaid care in the Labour Account’ consultation. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland.
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.
Klein, Elise, Hunt, Janet, Staines, Zoe, Dinku, Yonatan, Brown, Chay, Glynn-Braun, Kayla and Yap, Mandy (2024). Caring about Care (Wiyi Yani U Thangani - Women's Voices). Canberra, ACT Australia: Australian Human Rights Commission & ANU.
Stambe, Rose, Marston, Greg, Staines, Zoe and Henman, Paul (2023). Submission to the Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services. Canberra, ACT Australia: Parliament of Australia.
Staines, Zoe, Markham, Francis, Altman, Jon and Klein, Elise (2022). Submission to Employment White Paper: supporting a sustainable 'care' economy. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Government.
Altman, Jon, Klein, Elise, Markham, Francis and Staines, Zoe (2021). Submission to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee Inquiry into the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Remote Engagement Program) Bill 2021. Canberra, ACT Australia: Australian Parliament.
Staines, Zoe, Altman, Jon, Klein, Elise and Markham, Francis (2021). Guiding principles for a new livelihood and work program in remote Indigenous Australia. The Australia Institute 'Remote Access' Research Report Series Canberra, ACT, Australia: The Australia Institute.
Staines, Zoe and Radke, Amelia (2021). Submission to the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) Indigenous Digital Inclusion Plan. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet.
Humpage, Louise, Peterie, Michelle, Marston, Greg, Mendes, Philip, Bielefeld, Shelley and Staines, Zoe (2020). Helping or harming? Compulsory income management in Australia and New Zealand - summary report. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: School of Social Science, University of Queensland.
Marston, Greg, Mendes, Philip, Bielefeld, Shelley, Peterie, Michelle, Staines, Zoe and Roche, Steven (2020). Hidden costs: an independent study into income management in Australia. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: School of Social Science, The University of Queensland.
Bielefeld, Shelley, Marston, Greg, Peterie, Michelle and Staines, Zoe (2020). Submission to Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs regarding the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Continuation of Cashless Welfare) Bill 2020. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs.
Staines, Zoe and Smith, Kiah (2020). Submission to House Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs Inquiry into Food Pricing and Food Security in Remote Indigenous Communities (submission number 126). Canberra, ACT, Australia: Parliament of Australia.
Marston, Greg, Staines, Zoe and Holtum, Peter (2019). Submission to the Second National Youth Commission Inquiry. Collingwood, VIC Australia: National Youth Commission.
Bielefeld, Shelley, Peterie, Michelle, Staines, Zoe and Marston, Greg (2019). Submission No 40 to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs, Inquiry into the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management to Cashless Debit Card Transition) Bill 2019. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs.
Bond, Chelsea, Brady, Karla, Hassall, Keryn, Macoun, Alissa, Mukandi, Bryan, Singh, David, Staines, Zoe and Strakosch, Elizabeth (2019). Submission to Productivity Commission Inquiry into an Indigenous Evaluation Strategy. Brisbane, QLD Australia: University of Queensland.
Scott, John, Staines, Zoe and Morton, James (2019). Crime and justice in the Torres Strait Region. Australian Institute of Criminology Research and Public Policy Series Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Scott, John, Higginson, Angela, Staines, Zoe, Zhen, Liuissa, Ryan, Vanessa and Lauchs, Mark (2018). Strategic review of Cape York Income Management. Department of Social Services: Australian Government. doi: 10.5204/rep.eprints.123533
Newspaper Articles
Klein, Elise, Brown, Chay, Hunt, Janet, Glynn-Braun, Kayla and Staines, Zoe (2024, 03 19). ‘Care is in everything we do and everything we are’: the work of Indigenous women needs to be valued The Conversation
Staines, Zoe (2022, 12 12). Tackling gender-based inequality at the nexus of employment, social security, and care: what next for women? The Power to Persuade
Staines, Zoe, Moore, Charlotte, Marston, Greg and Humpage, Louise (2021, 08 27). Big data as evidence for social investment: a need for critique and caution Australian National University Austaxpolicy: Tax and Transfer Policy Blog
Staines, Zoe, Klein, Elise, Markham, Francis and Altman, Jon (2021, 08 06). To enable healing, there’s a more effective way to Close the Gap in employment in remote Australia The Conversation
Smith, Kiah and Staines, Zoe (2020, 10 19). Food, work and sovereignty The Sociological Review Blog
Peterie, Michelle, Marston, Greg, Mendes, Philip, Bielefeld, Shelley, Staines, Zoe and Roche, Steven (2020, 08 12). The 'hidden costs' of compulsory income management Social Security Rights Review
Staines, Zoe, Marston, Greg, Mendes, Philip, Bielefeld, Shelley and Peterie, Michelle (2020, 03 03). Compulsory cashless welfare programs harm women and children The Power to Persuade
Marston, Greg, Peterie, Michelle, Mendes, Philip and Staines, Zoe (2020, 02 26). 'I don't want anybody to see me using it': cashless welfare cards do more harm than good The Conversation
Bond, Chelsea, Macoun, Alissa, Singh, David, Strakosch, Elizabeth and Staines, Zoe (2019, 09 12). A new inquiry into Indigenous policy must address the root causes of failure The Conversation
Staines, Zoe and Gordon, Sean (2019, 07 11). A road to reconciliation: the case for a voice to Parliament The Policy Forum
Staines, Zoe (2019, 04 23). Caught up in CDP's punitive web: what remote women have to win (or lose) on May 18 The Power to Persuade
Staines, Zoe (2018, 08 29). The Indigenous employment gap is widening and we don’t know how to fix it The Conversation
Staines, Zoe (2018, 02 12). Australia is missing the Closing the Gap employment target by decades The Conversation
Staines, Zoe (2018, 02 09). Closing the gap requests for Indigenous participation are ironic - at best Independent Australia
Staines, Zoe (2017, 12 22). We’re not closing the gap on Indigenous employment, it’s widening The Conversation
Staines, Zoe (2017, 12 22). We’re not closing the gap on Indigenous employment, it’s widening The Conversation
Seminar Papers
Staines, Zoe and Klein, Elise (2023). Caring about care: Indigenous conceptions of care and work. Fellows Seminar Series. Australian Basic Income Lab, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Staines, Zoe (2023). Women’s experiences of conditional social security policies – the case of compulsory income management in Australia. School of Political Science & International Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane.
Staines, Zoe and Klein, Elise (2022). (Re)Centering Care within the work, welfare, care nexus. Social Security Policy and Practice Research Network Seminar, The University of Melbourne.
Staines, Zoe, Klein, Elise, Markham, Francis and Altman, Jon (2021). Guiding principles for a new livelihood and work program in remote Indigenous Australia. CAEPR Seminar Series. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University.
Altman, Jon, Klein, Elise, Staines, Zoe and Markham, Francis (2021). The short and troubled life, and sudden death, of the Community Development Program. CAEPR Seminar Series. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University.
Staines, Zoe and Moore, Charlotte (2021). Big data and poverty governance under Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand's “social investment” policies. The Australian Social Policy Association launch of the Australian Journal of Social Issues special issue on Big Data and Social Policy in Australia. Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.