Dr Devaki Monani joined the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre as Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in 2023.

Devaki is currently a lecturer at Charles Darwin University teaching Leadership in Social Policy, Co-Creating Partnerships in Social Justice, and Legal Issues in Social Work.

Devaki was a lecturer at Australian Catholic University (2015-2017) where she also lead the Master of Social Work program. She was appointed as a post-doctoral researcher on two major projects at University of Technology (2010-2015); the first was funded by the Australian Human Rights Commission and Academy of Social Sciences Australia examining International Students and Human Rights in Australia; and a latter project (2012-2015) funded by the Rural Industries Research Development Corporation (now known as Agrifutures) examining productivity and participation of multicultural groups in rural farming communities of Australia.

Devaki was appointed Research Fellow at Monash University (2008-2010) on a collaborative project funded by Windermere Child and Family Services, the Lord Mayors Trust and William Buckland Foundation examining building family and community resilience in the Cardinia growth corridor.

In 2005, Devaki was appointed Research Fellow at Victoria University at the Institute of Community Ethnicity and Policy Alternatives delivering a project funded by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, examining the settlement pattern of 501 multicultural participants across Australia.

Devaki’s doctoral study (2001-2008) focused on comparative social policy lens entitled ‘Crossing boundaries and lesson drawing: a case study of safe accommodation program transfer between Australia and India’.

 

Portfolios

  • Sir Zelman Cowen Centre

Areas of expertise

  • Multicultural communities and the law in Australia
  • Multicultural communities in regional Australia
  • Australian Multicultural Policy
Dr Devaki Monani

Contact details

[email protected]

Publications

O'Mara, B., Monani, D., & Carey, G. (2021). Telehealth, COVID-19 and refugees and migrants in Australia: policy and related barriers and opportunities for more inclusive health and technology systems. International journal of Health Policy Management.

Monani, D., Smith, J. A., O’Mara, B., Rung, D., Ireland, S., & Dube, M. (2021). Building equitable health and social policy in Australia to improve immigrant health literacy. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.481

Monani, D. (2018). At Crossroads: White Social Work in Australia and the discourse on Australian multiculturalism. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 10(2), 87-98.

Monani, D. & Gerry QC, F. (2017), Death and the Dowry System: India's Women and Female Children at Global Risk of Gendercide over Money, Issues in Legal Scholarship, 15, 1, p.1-13

Collins, J. Krivokapic-Skoko, B., & Monani, D. (2017) New Immigrants Critical to Australian Agriculture, Farm Policy Journal, (14), 27-3. ISSN (Online): 1449-8812 ISSN (print)1449-2210.

Refereed book chapters

Bertone, S. & Monani, D. (2013). Diversity and disadvantaged workers, Australian workplace relations / Julian Teicher, Peter Holland and Richard Gough (eds.), Chapter 10, pp. 174-190, Cambridge University Press.

Conference presentations

Monani, D., O'Mara, B., & Carey, G (2023) Monash University International Symposium on Digital empowerment and refugee settlement

Monani, D. (2021) Panellist on the Impact 2021 delivered by the Centre for Social Impact, UNSW on Why telehealth must better support refugees and migrants in Australia - and how?, August 2021.

Monani, D. (2021) ‘Defending Human Rights Through Financial Counselling’, Invited Spot Talk, Annual Financial Counsellors Conference, Darwin

Monani, D., & Selormey, K., (2019) Unpacking the 'Cultural Diversity Inside Out' Employment Model: Q&A with Kwame Selormey, CEO Melaleuca Refugee Centre, Darwin. Federation of Ethnic Communities Council Australia conference on PURPOSE, LEADERSHIP, PROGRESS: 40 years and beyond, Hobart, Tasmania.

Monani, D., Camit, M., & Helaratne, J. (2019) The South Asian women's mental health literacies project: Developing good practice outcomes, Federation of Ethnic Communities Council Australia, conference on PURPOSE, LEADERSHIP, PROGRESS: 40 years and beyond, Hobart, Tasmania.

Bachiella, L. Pan, A., & Monani, D. (2018) Facilitating better employment outcomes through innovative skill recognition models, International Metropolis Conference Sydney, Abstract 98, Sydney, New South Wales.

See more of Devaki's publications.

Professional Memberships

  • Member of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)
  • Ministers Advisory Council on Multicultural Affairs, Northern Territory (2023-2025)
  • Member of the Australian Evaluation Society (2021-)
  • Member of the International Association of the Schools of Social Work (2021-)
  • Member Friend of the International Federation of Social Workers (2018-2019)
  • Committee member for Diasporas in Action: Working Together for Peace,
  • Development and Humanitarian Response conference, Funded by Oxfam and Diasporas in
  • Action (2016-)
  • Board member, Metro Assist Migrant Resource Centre, Campsie, NSW (2016-201)
  • Board member, Women’s Health in the North, Melbourne (2002-2003)

Appearances in the media

Monani, D. (2021, December 2021) ‘I settled in Australia as a skilled migrant and know the difference between policy and reality’, The Guardian: Australia Edition.