My work centres on the gendered nature of familial and intimate relationships as lived experiences and as sites of policy intervention. Specifically, I use qualitative methods to analyze how people make sense of the joys and challenges of negotiating intimate relationships in the context of personal and social change. My current research agenda addresses: a) the expressive dimensions and gendered power dynamics of child support as a financial transfer and policy regime; b) an Australian Research Council funded project on children’s understandings of ‘home’ in the context of their parents’ separation/ divorce (with Professor Belinda Fehlberg [University of Melbourne] and Associate Professor Bruce Smyth [ANU]); and c) the housing and support needs and experiences of young women who have survived domestic and family violence or sexual assault (with Professor Sarah Wendt [Flinders], funded by South Australia's Department of Human Services). I have also published extensively in the area of marginal housing and homelessness.

I am the Inequality Research Theme Leader in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. I am a member of the Flinders University Social Work Innovation Research Living Space and co-convener (with Dr Ashley Barnwell) of The Australian Sociological Association Families and Relationships Thematic Group.