Rate My Professor Susan Hayes

Susan Hayes is Professor Emeritus in Behavioural Sciences in Medicine in the Central Clinical School of Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. Holding a doctorate in psychology, she is a registered psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and a Fellow of both the College of Forensic Psychologists of the Australian Psychological Society and the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Her academic career at the University of Sydney commenced in 1976 as a Lecturer in the Department of Behavioural Sciences in Medicine, advancing to Senior Lecturer from 1981 to 1986, Associate Professor from 1986, and Head of the Department from 1987. Concurrently, since 1980, she has maintained a clinical forensic psychology practice, offering expert testimony in Australian courts ranging from Local Courts to the High Court, and advising on guardianship, decision-making capacity, parenting, child welfare, and high-risk offenders involving individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Over more than 25 years, Hayes has pioneered research on the rights of people with intellectual disabilities, especially in the criminal justice system, being among the first in Australia and internationally in this field. She conducted studies on the prevalence of intellectual disabilities in prisons and courts, leading to the development of the Hayes Ability Screening Index (HASI) and its non-verbal version (HASI-NV), now utilized internationally to screen for intellectual disability in justice settings. Her scholarly output includes over 66 publications, such as "Defendants with intellectual disability and autism spectrum conditions: the perspective of clinicians working across three jurisdictions" (2021), "Improving Emotional Competence in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Mild Intellectual Disability in Schools" (2019), "Criminal Behavior and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities" (2018), and numerous book chapters and articles in journals like Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities and British Journal of Learning Disabilities. Hayes has significantly impacted policy and practice through consultancy to the NSW Law Reform Commission, membership on the NSW Serious Offenders Review Council, and board role with the Australian Community Services Organisation. She was appointed Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor at the University of Bristol's Norah Fry Research Centre. Her contributions earned her the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1998 and the UNSW Alumni Award for Achievement.