Jess Hill Fellowship at the University of Technology Sydney
The Wilson Foundation is pleased to partner with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to support Jess Hill through a new Fellowship in 2025/26.
The Fellowship will support her appointment as an Industry Professor with the UTS Business School and the Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion.
Jess will use the Fellowship to uncover innovative global and local solutions for preventing gendered violence. She will draw on her extensive connections within the sector and with advocates who have lived experience, both in Australia and abroad, to conduct in-depth research in key areas such as family law, coercive control, and alternatives to current system responses.
Jess will share her findings with policymakers and the broader public through high-impact media articles, podcasts, educational resources, and public events.
Additionally, Jess aims to encourage constructive dialogue to promote new strategies for preventing gendered violence, as well as exploring ways to enhance safety, independence, and freedom for women and children across Australia.
“For the past 15 years, Australia has invested significant funding and effort into reducing domestic, family and sexual violence. There has been enormous progress, especially in research and community awareness, but we are still struggling to actually reduce violence.
Recent data indicates a troubling rise in coercive control and sexual violence, particularly among adolescents. The current prevention strategies, which have primarily focused on addressing community attitudes, social norms and gender inequality, have been insufficient to reduce perpetration for the generation they were supposed to benefit most.
There is so much momentum for change. The Fellowship will support investigative research projects that make the case for paradigm-shifting change, with a focus on systems harm and alternative, care-based approaches. With the help of experts across UTS, I will also develop resources that arm victim-survivors and professionals with the information they need to respond to coercive control. Ultimately, this Fellowship will support a range of activities to help advance the adoption of holistic and effective strategies to prevent violence and help victim-survivors achieve safety and freedom.”
Jess Hill, Industry Professor, UTS
One of Australia’s foremost thinkers and advocates on gendered violence and coercive control, Jess has an extensive background in this field. Her research includes the acclaimed book See What You Made Me Do, which won the Stella Prize and was adapted into a three-part SBS documentary.
Her reporting on gendered violence has earned her three Walkley Awards, an Amnesty International Australian Media Award, and three Our Watch Awards from the Walkley Foundation, recognising outstanding journalism on violence against women.
Jess has also created the podcast The Trap, which delves into coercive control and the systems that uphold it. Her most recent work, the Quarterly Essay Losing It: Can We Stop the Violence Against Women and Children? critically examines Australia's efforts to end gendered violence.
"The Wilson Foundation is proud to support Jess Hill's vital work in developing robust, evidence-based recommendations to build a stronger, more effective gendered violence prevention system that goes beyond our current approaches.
Her research will be pivotal in identifying effective global and local strategies and programs that reduce violence, and we anticipate it will drive a shift in perspective, leading to significant and meaningful policy advancements."
Karen Wilson, Director, Wilson Foundation
Read more about this Fellowship on the UTS website here.