DrFlavia Bellieni Zimmermann

Dr Flavia Bellieni Zimmermann is an Academic Guest at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne and an international political analyst. She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Western Australia, a Commissioning Editor for the Australian Institute of Interntional Affairs blog Australian Outlook, and a member of Deakin University's Centre for Law as Protection. Formerly, Flavia was a Lecturer of Public Policy at the University of Melbourne (2024-2025), and a Lecturer of Politics, Policy and International Relations at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Western Australia (2022-2024). She was a Visiting Fellow at Western Sydney University (2019),  and a member of the University of Western Australia Centre for Muslim States and Societies (2017-2023), where she conducted a comparative study with migrant Brazilians and Pakistanis in Australia, exploring lived experiences of honour, religion, and gender. Flavia holds a Doctorate in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Western Australia, a Graduate Diploma of International Relations and Security Studies from Curtin University in Western Australia, and a Bachelor of Laws with first class honours from the Pontifical Catholic University from Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RJ), Brazil. Flavia is an award-winning scholar, and the recipient of the University of Western Australia Teaching Excellence Grant Award 2023, The University of Western Australia FABLE Teaching Fellowship 2019, and the Australian Institute of International Affairs Emerging Scholar Award 2016. Flavia is also the Commissioning Editor for the Australian Institute of International Affairs blog The Australian Outlook in Western Australia.She has contributed to CNN Brazil, The ABC's Tripple J, SBS News, RTRFM On the Record, ABC Radio National, The Wire, and Australia's Channel 10 The Project. Flavia's research interests include Latin American and Brazilian Politics and Policy, Global Populism, Populism in the Global South, Women in the Global South, Gender Policy Reform, Comparative Perspectives, and BRICS Plus and Transformations to the Rules-Based International Order. She has published widely on Brazilian politics, policy, and international relations, both internationally and domestically. Flavia is the author of the book Honour Consciousness, Religion and Gender: Brazilian and Pakistani Lived Experiences in Australia (Brill, 2025).