The Team

Master of Arts (Social Policy), University of Sydney 

Bachelor of Social Work (Honours), University of Sydney 

Cherie Toivonen is an independent researcher working in the violence, abuse, and neglect space and is currently the Director at CLT Byron Consulting. Cherie has over 20 years’ experience working in research and evaluation across a range of projects including: integrated service provision; domestic violence, child protection and mental health collaborative approaches; domestic violence service evaluation and responses; and community development and social inclusion initiatives. 

Whilst employed at the University of Sydney she managed two complex multi-agency ARC funded research projects and was the Senior Researcher for the NSW component of three ANROWS funded multi-state research projects. At ANROWS, she led the project that developed the National Risk Assessment Principles for Domestic and Family Violence and held the role of Acting Director of the Research Program.  

As Managing Director of CLT Byron Consulting she was contracted by the Ministry of Health (NSW Health) to design and run the Adult Survivor Pilot Project which utilised an action research approach to develop new integrated ways of working with adult survivors of childhood sexual assault. She was also contracted to the University of Melbourne on the ESTIE: Evidence to Support Safe and Together Implementation and Evaluation Project in NSW and is one of the project leads on Whole of family approaches for addressing family violence: An Aboriginal lens on the Safe & Together Framework research. 

Cherie also has extensive experience in teaching and supervision of students in the social work program, across both the Masters and Undergraduate programs at the University of Sydney. She has a continued commitment to teaching and learning within the social work profession.

Cherie has a strong commitment to social justice and feminist principles and holds these central to all aspect of her work. She believes in authentic dialogue with survivors and workers to create a space for developing new and innovative approaches to working in the violence space. Key to all of Cherie’s approaches is a commitment to co-design, critical reflection, and learning from our First Nations people about best practice. 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cherie-Toivonen

Honorary Associate Professor, University of Sydney 

Doctor of Philosophy, University of New South Wales 

Bachelor of Social Work (Hons), University of New South Wales

Lesley is Honorary Associate Professor in Social Work at the University of Sydney where her research focuses on violence against women and children. She has over 35 years’ experience in addressing domestic and family violence through policy, practice, research, evaluation and workforce development. 

She has conducted numerous evaluations of domestic violence interventions and programs, built on strong service provider-researcher collaboration and a commitment to including the voices of those most vitally affected by the effectiveness of domestic violence services: the victim/survivors and the practitioners who work with them. 

She has been Co-Chief NSW Investigator in a series of multi-state studies funded by ANROWS and Chief Investigator of the ARC project: Towards Better Practice: Enhancing collaboration between women’s domestic violence and mental health services. Lesley was the founding Director of the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse and the NSW Health Education Centre against Violence. 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lesley-Laing-2

https://fdp.edsw.usyd.edu.au/users/176

Emerita Professor of Social Work and Social Justice, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney. 

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Sydney
Master of Arts, Macquarie University
Bachelor of Social Work, University of NSW

Jude Irwin is Emeritus Professor of Social Work and Social Justice in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. Jude’s teaching, research, practice and policy interests span a number of areas including violence against women, children and young people, discrimination against gay men and lesbians, professional practice supervision, community development and learning in practice settings. 

Her focus is on using action research to build and develop better service responses to violence, abuse and neglect. She is on the Board of Directors of IASSW (International Association of Schools of Social Work) and APASWE (Asia Pacific Association of Social Work Education).

Jude has been on a number of committees including the NSW Ombudsman’s Child Death Advisory Committee, the NSW Child Death Review Team, the NSW Council on Violence Against Women (Deputy Chair) and the Advisory Group, Australian Child Protection Research Centre. She was a founding member and past Director of the Australian Centre for Lesbian and Gay Research. Jude has published widely, including books, journal articles and several public reports.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jude-Irwin

https://www.sydney.edu.au/arts/about/our-people/academic-staff/jude-irwin.html

Bachelor of Social Work, University of Sydney 

Erin Links is a social worker and researcher with experience in women’s and children’s services, child protection, mental health and the drug and alcohol sectors. 

She continues to work in a frontline practice role with families as well as contributing to research and policy responses around violence against women and children. 

She was a part of the research team for the Adult Survivor Pilot Project and the Evidence to Support Safe & Together Implementation and Evaluation (ESTIE project) and is currently working on the Evaluation of the Children’s Domestic and Family Violence Specialist Program, DV West.