Professor Christy Newman
Professor Christy E. Newman (they/them) is an LGBTQIA+ health sociologist at the Centre for Social Research in Health,and Deputy Dean Research in UNSW Arts, Design and Architecture.
Over the last 20 years, Christy has contributed expertise on qualitative social research, critical health sociology, and gender and sexuality diversity to multidisciplinary projects on the social aspects of sexual and reproductive health. More recently, this scope has expanded through new collaborations investigating the care and support needs of populations whose experiences challenge a range of normative assumptions about health, identity, embodiment, and relationships, including in the context of , , , , , and .
Christy is committed to supporting community-partnered and peer-led approaches, and to amplifying the voices of populations historically neglected or collapsed into broader population categories, particularly ,, and (intersex). This research has been funded by >$18 million in grants from the Australian Research Council (Discovery and Linkage grants), National Health and Medical Research Council (MRFF, Project and Partnership grants), public sector and for-purpose health agencies.
Christy is regularly consulted on inclusive health, education and research practices as a social researcher, a queer/bi+ and non-binary person and parent, and as a co-lead of CoPQTI: the UNSW Community of Practice for inclusive research with Queer and Trans people, and people with Innate variations of sex characteristics (Intersex). They also post research updates on Instagram as and Bluesky as
Selected past projects and publications include:
- my health, our family: documenting stories of family life in the context of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C (ARC DP160100134)
- What we do well: strengths based research about Aboriginal young people's sexual wellbeing (ARC LP170100190)
- Trust in digital health among communities affected by BBVs and STIs in Australia
- Queer generations: belonging and citizenship among gender and sexual minority youth (ARC DP150101292)
- StraightMSM study: heterosexually-identified men who have sex with men
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- 2020 Research Supervisor Award, UNSW Arc Postgraduate Council
- 2017 Mid-Career Interdisciplinary Achiever Award, Australasian Sexual Health Alliance
- 2010 Paul Bourke Award for Early Career Research, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
- 1998 University Medal in Arts, Murdoch University
- Editorial Board,
- Editorial Board,
- Associate,
- Member,
- Member,
- Member,
My Research Supervision
- Clue Coman: Social imaginaries of queer justice
- Shannon Harvey: Disrupted bodies: Interrogating the gender binary in family violence policy and practice
- Bella Bushby:
- Ava del Tufo:
- Tierney Marey:
Doctoral graduates
- Dr Heather McCormack (2024): Optimising the MBS 715 Adult Health Check to improve sexual health testing in routine care for Aboriginal people in NSW
- Dr Catriona Ooi (2024):
- Dr Lisa Wojciechowski (2023)
- Dr Anthony KJ Smith (2022)
- Dr Giselle Newton (2022)
- Dr Elena Cama (2022)
- Dr Elan Lazuardi (2019)
- Dr Jialing (Angela) Cui (2019)
- Dr Jessica Botfield (2019)
- Dr Jamee Newland (2015)
- Dr Denton Callander (2013)
- Dr Dean Murphy (2013)
- Dr Rebecca Gray (2013)