Karen Block – The Conversation

Lukas Coch/AAP

August 24, 2026

‘We are not in a safe place’: women reveal being abused while producing the food Australians eat

Gemma Tarpey-Brown, The University of Melbourne; Cathy Vaughan, The University of Melbourne; Karen Block, The University of Melbourne, and Laurentina mica Barreto Soares, Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa'e

New research interviewing women involved with the federal government’s Pacific Labour Mobility Scheme shows why it needs urgent reform to stop worker exploitation.

Eliza Crosbie

March 23, 2026

‘I lost hope in humanity, but I now call myself human’: what refugees told us about settling in regional Australia

Eliza Crosbie, The University of Melbourne; Karen Block, The University of Melbourne, and Natascha Klocker, University of Wollongong

Essential services, schools, and sporting clubs in regional towns told us refugee communities make them viable.

Social and economic inequalities determine future economic status, educational achievement, and social inclusion of children. Josh Pesavento

September 4, 2013

How voting for equity will make life better now and in the future

Karen Block, The University of Melbourne; Elise Davis, The University of Melbourne; Elizabeth Waters, The University of Melbourne; Lisa Gibbs, The University of Melbourne, and Simon Crouch, The University of Melbourne

The impending federal election provides a good opportunity to pause and ask ourselves what kind of society we want to live in. The decision we make will impact both our lives and that of our children as…

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