Associate Professor Sue Williamson
Sue Williamson is an Associate Professor of Human Resource Management in the School of Business at UNSW, Canberra. She is also the Postgraduate Coordinator for the School of Business.
Research Interests
Sue Williamson specialises in two main areas of research – gender equality in the workplace, and public sector human resources and industrial relations. Sue is combining these two areas and for the past few years has been examining how various public sector agencies implement gender equality initiatives. Recent research includes examining how public sector employees worked from home, including analysing the gendered impacts of remote and hybrid working. Sue has also examined the most recent round of collective bargaining in the Australian public service. Sue and colleagues are currently examining merit in the public sector. Sue is also the Academic Director of the course 'Crafting Inclusive Policy for Gender Equality', and trains public servants on how to conduct gender analysis and gender impact assessments.
Sue has partnered with various state government and Australian Government agencies on projects aimed at progressing workplace gender equality. Please email Sue if you would like to discuss a possible research partnership.
Current Research Projects
Working from home and hybrid work in the public service
Merit in the public service
Gender equality in the public service
Teaching Areas
Undergraduate and post-graduate human resource management; post-graduate diversity management.
Micro-credential of Crafting Inclusive Policy for Gender Equality
Note: Photo credit - Alexandra Orme Photography
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
2024 Winner of the Journal of Industrial Relations Fran Hayes award for a major contribution to research on equity in industrial relations. Awarded for the article ‘Regulating for gender equality in the Australian Public Service: Extending Dickens’ tripod of regulation’, Journal of Industrial Relations, 65:3, 274-296.
2024 Winner of the O'Leary prize for excellence in scholarship in gender and public administration, for Williamson, S, Taylor, H and Weeratunga, V. (2023) “Working from home during COVID-19: What does this mean for the ideal worker norm?”, Gender, Work and Organization, 31: 2.
2023 Winner of the 2022 Sam Richardson Prize, for Foley, M, Cooper, R, Colley, L and Williamson, S (2022). 'Best person or best mix? How public sector managers understand the merit principle', Australian Journal of Public Administration, 83:3, 401-418.
2023 Shortlisted for Nevile-Plowman Best Article Prize for Williamson, S, Colley, L and Foley, M (2022) Public servants working from home: Exploring managers’ changing allowance decisions in a COVID-19 context, Economic and Labour Relations Review, 33:1, 37-55.
2021 Rosemary O'Leary Award for best article published in 2020 on women and public administration, awarded by the International Research Society for Public Management. Co-authors - A/Prof Linda Colley and Dr Meraiah Foley.
2017 ACT Telstra Business Woman of the Year Finalist (Academic and Public Sector).
Media
2021
Williamson, S (2021) Is a New Era in Public Sector Gender Equality Upon Us? The Mandarin, https://www.themandarin.com.au/177351-is-a-new-era-in-public-sector-gender-equality-upon-us/, 8 December.
IPAA Work with Purpose podcast – productivity and working from home: https://www.act.ipaa.org.au/workwithpurpose, 6 December.
Williamson, S (2021) Does Working from Home Increase or Decrease Productivity? The Mandarin, https://www.themandarin.com.au/176471-does-working-from-home-increase-or-decrease-productivity/, 29 November.
Williamson, S (2021) From hot-desking to hotelling: The next wave of flexibility in the APS? https://www.governmentnews.com.au/type_contributors/from-hot-desking-to-hotelling-the-next-wave-of-flexibility-in-the-aps/, 18 November.
ABC Breakfast interview with Lish Fejer, 4 Nov.
ABC Canberra radio with Anna Vidot, 11 Oct.
Williamson, S (2021) Public service can lead the way with flexible work arrangements, https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7462589/public-service-can-lead-the-way-with-flexible-work-arrangements/?cs=14246, 11 October.
Williamson, S (2021) Explainer: what is a ‘positive duty’ to prevent workplace sexual harassment and why is it so important? 8 September.
Williamson, S (2021) Training in respect at workplaces needs sustained, long-term effort, 3 August.
Williamson, S and Pearce, A (2021) What’s Next for Flexible Working Arrangements in the Public Sector? The Mandarin, 7 July.
Williamson, S and Colley, L (2021) The Public Sector to Report on Gender Equality, The Mandarin, 9 April.
ABC Canberra, Drive with Anna Vidot, Respect@Work report, 8 April.
2SER-fm, The Daily, Andrew Laming’s Empathy Training – Can you teach someone to empathise?, 8 April.
UNSW BusinessThink, Empathy Training, https://www.businessthink.unsw.edu.au/articles/empathy-training-politicians, 30 March.
SBS Radio, Empathy training, 30 March.
ABC Central West Radio, Breakfast, Empathy training, 30 March.
ABC-TV, News Channel, Empathy training, 30 March.
Williamson, S (2021): Andrew Laming: Why Empathy Training is Unlikely to Work”, The Conversation, 29 March.
Williamson, S (2021) Assessing the effects of COVID on work and gender equality, Canberra Times, https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7171237/assessing-the-effects-of-covid-on-work-and-gender-equality/, 18 March.
2SER-fm, The Daily, The Impact of the Pandemic on Working Women, 5 March
2SER-fm, Drive, Hybrid Workplaces – The key to gender equality?, 11 March.
Williamson, S and Colley, L (2021) What’s to celebrate on IWD 2021, with its ‘he said/she said’ backdrop to sexual harassment and assault? The Mandarin, https://www.themandarin.com.au/150732-he-said-she-said-backdrop-to-sexual-harassment/, 8 March.
ABC Canberra, ‘Clocking off’ with Anna Vidot, 5 March, gender equality.
2020
2CC, 20 October, Leon Delaney, Working from Home.
Williamson S, and Colley, L (2020) Will the Work from Home Genie Go Back into the Bottle?, Canberra Times, 9 October.
ABC Canberra Breakfast, Working from Home, 30 September.
Radio National breakfast, Working from Home, 30 September. https://www.abc.net.au/radio/newsradio/govt:-public-sector-should-return-to-office/12716250
Williamson, S and Colley, L (2020) Flexible Working and the Pandemic: More than just working from home, The Mandarin, 30 September.
Colley, L and Williamson, S (2020) “With Management Resistance Overcome, Working from Home may be Here to Stay, The Conversation, 24 August.
2CC, 23 August, Ian Meikle and Rod Henshaw.
ABC Canberra, 17 August, with Paula Kruger, discussing working from home (at 2:43:05).
2CC, 17 August.
Public servants, pets and working hours during the pandemic — survey results, The Mandarin, 18 Aug.
Communicating with Trust: Tips for Managers, Apolitical, 16 June.
ABC Canberra, 40th Anniversary of the removal of the age bar in the APS: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/canberra/programs/drive/drive/12191192, 4 May.
Forging a New Pathway to Progress Gender Equality in Australia, The Mandarin, 25 February.
A Disturbing Understanding of Gender Equality, The Mandarin, 29 January.
2019
Backlash, Gender Fatigue and Organisational Change, The Power to Persuade, 25 November.
Where are the Women? A Gender Analysis of the APS Review, The Mandarin, 16 September.
Canberra, Panel member on ‘Clocking Off’ with Anna Vidot, ABC Canberra, 30 August.
Canberra, Interview with Anna Vidot, ABC Canberra on ‘Gender Equality in the Public Sector’, 22 July.
Time for a New Generation of APS Gender Equality Policies, The Mandarin, 19 July.
Will the Coalition’s Approach to Gender Equality Actually Improve Women’s Lives?, The Conversation, May 2019.
Backlash and Gender Fatigue. Why Progress on Gender Equality has Slowed, The Conversation, 8 March.
Maintaining the Public Service’s Momentum for Gender Equality, The Mandarin, 6 March.
My Teaching
ZBUS8103 Strategic Human Resources