I am a public historian who specializes in family history, cultural heritage, history and sport, gender in sport, community, local and regional history, memory and life-stories, histories of charities and NGOs, history and the media and history in tourism. 

As Director of the Centre for Applied History and President of the International Federation of Public History I am committed to revealing the value and significance of history for individuals and society to everyone.

I analyse how history works in everyday life. I am passionate about researching ordinary people and places in the past and co-creating historical knowledge with diverse communities. Past consultancies include the areas of: history and sport, gender in sport, family, history in the GLAM sector, cultural heritage, community, local and regional history, histories of charities and NGOs, history and the media.

I am currently co-leading an Australian Research Council-funded Linkage project entitled 'History, heritage and environmental change in a deindustrialised landscape' with archaeologists, heritage consultants, historians and industry partners. This is a collaborative public history project and we're producing a walking tour of abandoned shale mining settlements in the Blue Mountains https://mq-cah.github.io/BlueMntARC/about/.

My first three books were about the history of 'illegitimacy', poverty and philanthropy. My third prize-winning book Fractured Families: Life on the Margins in Colonial New South Wales was a history of Australia's oldest surviving charity The Benevolent Society and I wrote this in collaboration with family historians and the charity. I love teaching and producing public history and working in teams. I curate exhibitions, write for general as well as academic readers, politicians and social policy makers and I make radio and television programs based on my scholarship. I pitch my work at a variety of audiences because my research is targeted at disrupting people's assumptions about the history of the family. It questions supposedly 'authoritative' or 'commonsensical' knowledge about family life in the past. I am committed to the democratization of historical knowledge. My last book Family History, Historical Consciousness and Citizenship: a new social history was published by Bloomsbury in early 2022.

I am Director of the Centre for Applied History: https://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and-facilities/resilient-societies/centres/centre-for-applied-history@AppliedHist

The Department of History and Archaeology (with colleagues in MCCALL, Geography and Planning, the Macquarie Business School and Education) at Macquarie University established this Centre to build linkages with community and industry partners and explore the production and consumption of history outside of universities.

It aims to highlight the role of historical knowledge in shaping public policy, and the uses of history in the development of key institutions and within diverse communities. The Centre draws upon Macquarie University's nationally and internationally recognised research and teaching strengths in the field of applied history, including family history, digital history and eResearch, cultural heritage, museums, oral history, consultancy work, history and policy, television, radio, community, regional and local history. 

To engage with us please contact me or email [email protected]

HDR supervision