Dr Laura Simpson Reeves
Research Fellow
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work
+61 7 344 33739
Researcher biography
Dr Laura Simpson Reeves is a Research Fellow in the School of Nursing, Midwifery, and Social Work at The University of Queensland. She is a highly experienced qualitative social researcher with a strong background across the social sciences and humanities. Her program of research explores how structural and cultural forces shape experiences of inequality and disadvantage, working at the intersection of culture, community, and care. It is grounded in a deep commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion, with a strong interdisciplinary focus that spans sociology, community and international development, communication studies, and social work. Her work is characterised by applied, impact-driven practice and methodological rigor, especially in qualitative and visual methods, with a sustained focus on vulnerable and marginalised populations. She is passionate about translating research into practice and amplifying voices of those with lived/living experience.
In addition to her research focus, Laura is passionate about creating safe and inclusive spaces in which research and teaching can be grounded and learning shared. She has a strong history of service and mentoring with students and early career academics, especially those returning to study or coming from non-traditional or marginalised backgrounds.
| Featured projects | Duration |
|---|---|
|
Peer Parent and Family Advocacy Australian Research Council Linkage Grant |
|
|
Enhancing Children’s Journeys through Out-of-home Care Australian Research Council Linkage Grant |
|
|
Family Connections Pilot Micah Projects |
Publications
Book Chapters
Ramsay, Rebekah B. and Simpson Reeves, Laura (2018). Underestimating legacy: lessons learned from mining-caused displacement and resettlement. Routledge handbook of community development research. (pp. 55-68) edited by Shevellar, Lynda and Westoby, Peter. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315612829-4
Moran, Mark, Simpson Reeves, Laura and Wright, Alyson (2018). Complicating dynamics: adapting the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework to a remote indigenous context in Australia. Routledge handbook of community development research. (pp. 146-160) edited by Lynda Shevellar and Peter Westoby. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315612829-10
Liu, Shuang and Simpson Reeves, Laura (2017). Intercultural communication study in Australia. The international encyclopedia of intercultural communication. (pp. 1-9) edited by Young Yun Kim. Hoboken, NJ, United States: John Wiley and Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781118783665.ieicc0078
Liu, Shuang and Simpson Reeves, Laura (2016). Migration and Aging. Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. (pp. 1-7) Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_292-1
Journal Articles
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2026). Understandings of responsibility amongst Sāmoan diaspora in Greater Brisbane, Australia. Journal of Sociology 14407833261446987. doi: 10.1177/14407833261446987
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2026). Review of The loneliness room: a creative ethnography of loneliness. Visual Studies, 41 (1), 327-328. doi: 10.1080/1472586X.2025.2570285
Simpson Reeves, Laura, Faleolo, Ruth (Lute), Parsell, Cameron and Liu, Shuang (2025). Belonging and identity in the Samoan diaspora. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 1-16. doi: 10.1080/07256868.2025.2598765
Venables, Jemma, Simpson Reeves, Laura, Ellem, Kathy, Healy, Karen and Cullin, Joel (2025). Access to transition planning and support for young people who self‐place when in out‐of‐home care: the perspectives of young people and practitioners. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 60 (3), 757-767. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.391
Healy, Karen, Simpson Reeves, Laura, Boman, Madonna, Kolesnikova, Iryna, Povey, Jenny, Venables, Jemma, Baxter, Janeen and Thompson, Kate (2024). The social and emotional wellbeing of children in out-of-home care: a scoping review exploring structural and social factors. Children and Youth Services Review, 166 107991, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107991
Reeves, Laura Simpson (2023). Review: Into the Sea, by Ash Watson. Journal of Autoethnography, 4 (3), 434-437. doi: 10.1525/joae.2023.4.3.434
Staines, Zoe, Smith, Kiah, Plage, Stefanie, Nahar Lata, Lutfun, Fay, Suzanna, Zheng, Zhaoxi, Simpson Reeves, Laura, Beazley, Helen, Kuskoff, Ella, Clarke, Andrew, McGowan, Glenys, Shevellar, Lynda and Prangnell, Jonathan (2023). Social science as social action to address inequalities. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 59 (1), 108-127. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.272
Simpson Reeves, Laura, Clarke, Andrew, Kuskoff, Ella and Parsell, Cameron (2022). Fulfilling and desperately needed: Australian media representations of responses to homelessness. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 57 (4), 783-797. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.201
Parsell, Cameron, Hutchins, Marcus, Simpson Reeves, Laura and Deighton, Chris (2021). Created in the image of God? Progressive social services and faith-based organizations. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 36 (3), 1-21. doi: 10.1080/13537903.2021.1959163
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2020). Review of Helmut Gaisbauer, Gottfried Schweiger and Clemens Sedmak (eds) (2020), Absolute Poverty in Europe: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on a Hidden Phenomenon, Bristol: Policy Press. Journal of Social Policy, 50 (1), 212-214. doi: 10.1017/S0047279420000598
Simpson Reeves, Laura, Parsell, Cameron and Liu, Shuang (2020). Towards a phenomenology of poverty: defining poverty through the lived experiences of the ‘poor’. Journal of Sociology, 56 (3), 439-454. doi: 10.1177/1440783319851204
Simpson Reeves, Laura and Hinthorne, Lauren Leigh (2019). Can visual methods actually challenge hierarchies? A case study from Papua New Guinea. Community Development Journal, 54 (3) bsx047, 371-388. doi: 10.1093/cdj/bsx047
Perales, Francisco, Simpson Reeves, Laura, Plage, Stefanie and Baxter, Janeen (2019). The family lives of Australian lesbian, gay and bisexual people: a review of the literature and a research agenda. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 17 (1), 43-60. doi: 10.1007/s13178-018-0367-4
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2019). Review of Lori Kido Lopez, Asian American Media Activism: Fighting for Cultural Citizenship. International Journal of Communication, 13, 2513-2515.
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2018). Book review: Darin Barney, Gabriella Coleman, Christine Ross, Jonathan Sterne, and Tamar Tembeck (Eds.), The Participatory Condition in the Digital Age. International Journal of Communication, 12, 4465-4467.
Engel, Susan and Simpson Reeves, Laura (2018). What do they need to know? Core skills for postgraduate development studies students : Core skills for postgraduate development studies students. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 59 (2), 212-225. doi: 10.1111/apv.12191
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2015). Visualizing participatory development communication in social change processes: challenging the notion that visual research methods are inherently participatory. International Journal of Communication, 9 (2015), 3327-3346.
Hinthorne, Lauren Leigh and Simpson Reeves, Laura (2015). Using purpose-made objects for visual research: an exploratory case study. Visual Communication, 14 (2), 155-178. doi: 10.1177/1470357214565585
Conference Papers
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2024). Hope labour and hustle culture: How the neoliberalisation of higher education continues to disadvantage women. The Australian Sociological Conference, Perth, WA, Australia and online, 26-29 November 2024.
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2024). Paralysed by precarity: a journey of productive procrastination towards PhD completion. The Australian Sociological Conference, Perth, WA, Australia and online, 26-29 November 2024.
Simpson Reeves, Laura and Healy, Karen (2024). A Longitudinal Approach to Exploring the Social and Emotional Well-Being of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Children in Out-of-Home Care: A Research Innovation. International Conference on Health and Mental Health in Social Work, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 19-22 November 2024.
Sharma, Nikita and Simpson Reeves, Laura (2023). The (un)making of multicultural Australia. TASA 2023, Sydney, Australia, 28-29 November 2023.
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2019). Family, Food and Faith: How Samoan and Tongan diaspora in Australia imagine ‘the good life’. American Anthropological Association and Canadian Anthropological Society Joint Conference, Vancouver, Canada, 20-24 November 2019.
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2017). Can visual methods actually challenge hierarchies?. International Visual Methods Conference, Singapore, 16-18 August 2017.
Simpson Reeves, Laura and Moran, Mark (2016). Assessing the impact of public finances on the PNG-Australia borderland. Australasian Aid and International Development Conference, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 10-11 February 2016.
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2016). Challenging hierarchies: the role of visual research methods in participatory development. ISA RC33 9th International Conference on Social Science Methodology, Leicester, United Kingdom, 11-16 September 2016.
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2014). The role of visual methods in multilingual spaces when promoting participation. Rhizomes VIII Conference: Surviving and Thriving in Multilingual Spaces, Brisbane, Australia, 10-11 February 2014.
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2013). Modelling development: The benefits of a participatory approach. Perspectives on Progress Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 27-29 November 2013.
Thesis
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2024). ‘Ola Manaia’: exploring how Samoan diaspora in Greater Brisbane, Australia, conceptualise ‘the good life’. PhD Thesis, Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/e1b034c
Newspaper Article
Research Reports
Healy, Karen, Povey, Jenny, Venables, Jemma, Baxter, Janeen, Thompson, Kate, Kolesnikova, Iryna and Simpson Reeves, Laura (2026). Enhancing children’s journey through Out-of-home Care: final project report. St Lucia, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
Healy, Karen, Simpson Reeves, Laura, Venables, Jemma and Nathanson, Caitlin (2025). Raising Queensland: child and youth policy priorities. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
Simpson Reeves, Laura, Hawley, Glenda, Gabiana, Christy and Healy, Karen (2025). ‘Every child, every woman: healthy and safe start’ program evaluation final report. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.
Baxter, Janeen, Povey, Jenny, Burger, Sarah-Ann, Plage, Stefanie, Kennedy, Elizabeth, O'Flaherty, Martin, Tseng, Yi-Ping, Polidano, Cain, Kalb, Guyonne, Borland, Jeff, Ribar, David, Mamun, Abdullah, Ball, Sarah, Gramotnev, Alexandra, Bellotti, Melindy, Simpson Reeves, Laura, Tomaszewski, Wojtek and Western, Mark (2020). Try, test and learn evaluation - interim report. Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland.
van de Fliert, Elske, Simpson Reeves, Laura, Walker, Grady, Sepulveda, Claudia, Sam, Steven and Ngussie, Hagos (2014). Mainstreaming Communication for Development in Policies and Programmes. Enabling social inclusion to support food and nutrition security, resilient rural livelihoods and family farmin. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Working Papers
Simpson Reeves, Laura (2023). Cultural understandings of responsibility amongst Samoan diaspora in Greater Brisbane. LCC Working Paper Series. 2023-10. Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/1222d23
Lubis, Sofni and Simpson Reeves, Laura (2014). Children left behind: A human rights issue. SMERU Policy Brief. 1/2014. SMERU Research Institute.