Dr Liz Allen

I'm a demographer and social researcher at the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods (within the College of Arts and Social Sciences). My role at the ANU includes teaching social research methods and researching population dynamics. I'm also a regular media commentator on demographic matters. I've been working at the ANU for over ten years, starting as a research assistant and sessional academic, before being employed in successive short-term contracts. I became a continuing academic in 2021. If elected, I will fight for healthy workloads and pathways to job security for ANU staff. 

I was named among the inaugural ABC Top 5 Humanities and Social Sciences academics in Australia 2018. My book The Future of Us (2020), is a call to action to build a stronger Australia through fairness and equality.

I come from humble beginnings marked by disadvantage, and I want others (like me) to see the opportunities on offer at Australia's national university. I'm a high-school dropout, I've experienced homelessness, survived poverty, and became a parent at 17. Despite this rough start, educational opportunities have granted me a passport to life. I want to help strengthen the ANU community by promoting equity representation among students and staff, so that people like my younger self know they belong in higher education.