Dr Zoe Staines
ARC Decra Fellow
School of Social Science
+61 7 334 69306

Researcher biography
Zoe Staines is a Research Fellow with the School of Social Science, University of Queensland. She previously held research and policy positions in the Queensland public sector and, most recently, in the not-for-profit sector, as a Senior Policy Officer and Manager of Research. Since completing her PhD in criminology, she has published in the areas of policing, social policy, welfare conditionality, and rural/remote crime and governance. She was recently awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) (2020–2023) to further her work into remote community experiences of social policy and crime, and is also an Associate Editor of the Australian Journal of Social Issues.
Publications
Book Chapters
Marston, Greg and Staines, Zoe (2020). Losing sight: social security policy in Australia. Social policy in Australia: understanding for action. edited by Alison McLelland, Paul Smyth and Greg Marston. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
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.
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
Journal Articles
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, 1-16. doi: 10.1017/S1474746421000063
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, 1-18. doi: 10.1080/10361146.2021.1884646
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, In press.
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. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 000486582110055. doi: 10.1177/00048658211005516
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, In press, 1-24. doi: 10.1080/19460171.2021.1893198
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. 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, 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 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.
Scott, John and Staines, Zoe (2020). Charting the place of islands in criminology: on isolation, integration and insularity. Theoretical Criminology, 136248062091025. doi: 10.1177/1362480620910250
Staines, Zoe (2020). Australia’s remote workfare policy: rhetoric versus reality of ‘community’ empowerment. Critical Social Policy, 41 (1), 026101831989705-24. doi: 10.1177/0261018319897056
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
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, 1-20. doi: 10.1080/01442872.2020.1783439
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 and Jose, Fiona (2018). Overcoming social disadvantage by investing in Indigenous teenage mothers—an integrated policy approach. Solutions Journal, 9 (2)
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 (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). Students’ engagement with Facebook in a university undergraduate policing unit. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 29 (6), 792-805. doi: 10.14742/ajet.270
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
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 (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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Newspaper Articles
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, August 12). The 'hidden costs' of compulsory income management. Social security rights review, p..-..
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
Research Reports
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.
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.
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.
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.