ProfessorAngela Dew

Angela commenced as Associate Professor Disability and Inclusion within the
School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University in April 2019 and was promoted to Professor in January 2023.

Angela's main research interests relate to the lived experiences of people
with a disability and their family members. She has a particular focus on
people from underserved communities especially those with complex support
needs including people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background,
refugees with disability, and those living in rural and remote areas.

From 2010 to 2015 at the University of Sydney, Angela managed an NHMRC funded Partnership Project into the
challenges experienced by people with disability, carers and allied health
professionals living and working in rural and remote areas of Western NSW,
including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

From 2015 to 2019 Angela was a Senior Research Fellow at the Intellectual
Disability Behaviour Support (IDBS) Program at UNSW Sydney. Here she developed
an inclusive arts-based research approach to facilitate the engagement of
people with cognitive disability and complex support needs. Angela also led an
action research approach to engage end users in the co-design of practical
resources and guides especially around planning.

In 2014, as part of an international research collaboration, Angela completed
the prestigous Knowledge Translation Professional Certificate at the SickKids
Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada. Angela brings expertise in knowledge
translation ensuring that research is accessible to interested stakeholders
and the broader community.

Angela currently supervises four PhD students with topics including family
support networks, the use of restrictive practices, intellectual disability and obesity, and the experience of disability for Somali children with disability in Australia. She has successfully supervised seven PhD, eight Masters and eight Honours students.

Angela led a recently completed research project funded by the National Disability Research Partnership to co-design research questions and proposal related to the safety of people with disability from Karen and Afghan Hazara refugee backgrounds living in Bendigo, Victoria. 

Angela is also currently a Chief Investigator (non-Deakin led) on two MRFF projects. One led by Macquarie University to co-design the first Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) with people with intellectual disability admitted to hospital. The second, led by the Western Sydney University aims to co-design an evidence-based model of patient-centred sexual healthcare for LGBTQA+ people with disability. Angela was a Chief Investigator (non-Deakin led) Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Indigenous grant (led by Sydney University) into the NDIS planning experiences of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people with disability and planners in rural and remote areas of NSW and
Central Australia. This project developed training modules for use by planners working with in these areas. She was also a Chief Investigator on an ARC Discovery grant (led by UNSW Sydney) using body mapping to investigate experiences of stigma and discrimination for women with
disability, mental illness or from a refugee background. This project resulted in body map exhibitions, conference presentations and publications.
In 2021-2022, Angela was Lead Chief Investigator on a National Disability Research Partnership grant to co-design Arab-language resources with people with disability and family members from Syrian and Iraqi refugee backgrounds and settlement service providers to improve access to services and supports. This project resulted in YouTube videos and postcards which received the inaugral 'Excellence in Communicating with Refugee Communities' category of the NSW Multicultural Health Communications Award 2023.

From 2016-2018, Angela was a Chief Investigator on an ARC Discovery Indigenous grant (led by
Sydney University) investigating what a good life means Aboriginal families
and carers of children with disabilities in remote communities in Central
Australia; and from 2015-2017 she was a Chief Investigator on a National
Disability Working Group grant (led by Sydney University) to identify
facilitators to living on and off Country in Central Australia for Aboriginal
adults with disability.

In 2021, Angela received a Deakin University Faculty of Health mid career
fellowship to conduct life history interviews with people with disability and
family members from Syrian and Iraqi refugee backgrounds about their refugee
journeys. Angela has written a book based on this research: 

Dew, A. (2026). Refugee Journeys to Australia: Safety, Security, and Support for People from Syria and Iraq with Disabilities. Bloomsbury Publishing, New York. ISBN: HB: 9781666932188; ePDF: 9798216261292; eBook: 9781978760196.

Knowledge Areas
Intellectual,developmental disability

Life course

Adult siblings

Rural and remote

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability

Refugees with disability

Knowledge translation

Qualitative research methods including arts-based, inclusive and action
research

Projects
Current Research Projects