Rate My Professor Sarah Wendt

Professor Sarah Wendt is Professor of Social Work in the Department of Social Work at the University of Melbourne, a position she has held since 2024. She earned her PhD in Social Work from the University of South Australia in 2005, a Bachelor of Social Work with First Class Honours from the University of South Australia in 2000, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Adelaide in 2001. Before entering academia, she worked as a practitioner in the field of domestic violence. Her academic career includes serving as Associate Professor at the University of South Australia from 2006 to 2015 and Professor at Flinders University from 2016 to 2023. She has taught social work for over a decade and is recognized for her contributions to social work practice and research on violence against women.

Wendt's research specializations encompass domestic and family violence, with particular emphasis on its impacts on women's citizenship, service provision for Aboriginal communities experiencing family violence, engaging men who use violence, rural women's experiences of domestic violence in Australia, young women's encounters with violence and homelessness, collaboration across child protection and domestic violence sectors, and the influence of domestic violence work on practitioners in rural communities. She collaborates with First Nations practitioners to develop culturally informed approaches. As Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, she leads research on religion and violence against women. Key publications include 'Domestic Violence in Diverse Contexts: A Re-examination of Gender' (Routledge, 2014), 'Constructions of Local Culture and Impacts on Domestic Violence in an Australian Rural Community' (Journal of Rural Studies, 2009), 'Rethinking Women’s Mental Health after Intimate Partner Violence' (Violence Against Women, 2021), 'Engaging Men Who Use Violence: Invitational Narrative Approaches' (ANROWS, 2019), 'Seeking Help for Domestic Violence: Exploring Rural Women's Coping Experiences' (ANROWS, 2015), and 'Home Safe Home: The Link Between Domestic and Family Violence and Women's Homelessness' (2000). She is the inaugural Director of South Australia's Social Workers Registration Scheme, the first in Australia, overseeing its development for registration commencing 1 July 2025, and advocates for national registration of social workers.