Elizabeth Ellison

Research Interests

Arts and Cultural Policy Communication & Media Studies Cultural and creative industries

APrf Elizabeth Ellison

Dean, School of Communication, Media and Journalism

School of Communication, Media and Journalism

College of Creative Arts, Design and Humanities

Available For Media Comment.

Associate Professor Elizabeth Ellison is the Dean of Research, UniSA Creative.
Liz's doctoral thesis, from Queensland University of Technology, was an examination of textual representations of the Australian beach.  A graduate of the Creative Industries Faculty at QUT, Liz's interest in Australian popular and cultural texts has continued through her varied publications. Most recently, she is CI on two ARC Discovery projects and has two co-authored monographs. 
Liz was previously the Deputy Dean (Research) for the School of Education & the Arts at Central Queensland University until 2023. In this role, Liz specialised in applied and regional arts research, with a focus on arts evaluation. She has been lead investigator on projects worth nearly $4m, working closely with local councils, state government, and various arts organisations. These projects have been diverse, including delivering public art trails in remote Queensland, sector consultations, and developing a micro-credential package for arts businesses. Liz established the 'Applied Arts and Regional Communities' cluster for the Centre for Research in Equity & Advancement of Teaching & Education (CREATE) at CQUniversity. 
Liz has specialised in creative industries postgraduate teaching across various graduate certificates and coursework masters degrees at both QUT and CQUniversity. She was the coordinator of CARTA, the Creative Arts Research Training Academy at CQU. She continues to supervise research students across a range of creative disciplines, and publishes on doctoral training in the humanities and social sciences.  

Date Institution name Country Title
2009 - 2013 Queensland University of Technology Australia PhD

Year Citation
2025 Perera, A., Johnson, A., Ellison, E., & Joseph, S. (2025). How the COVID-19 lockdowns influenced journalists to change the way they react to online and digitally enhanced dangerous and fake content. Journalism, online, 1-20.
DOI
2025 Ellison, E., Batty, C., Joseph, S., & Owens, A. (2025). Supervising doctorates in creative writing: what is the lived experience?. New Writing, 22(4), 1-22.
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2024 Mackay, S., Ellison, E., & Bennett, W. (2024). Natural disaster resilience and the creative arts: a case study from rural Australia. Journal of Arts and Communities, 15(1), 57-73.
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2024 Mackay, S. C., Ellison, E., Thompson, M., Preece, P., & Harreveld, B. (2024). 'They need to know that it's theirs': considerations for policy and practice when developing a public art trail in remote communities. International Journal of Cultural Policy, online(6), 1-17.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2023 Ellison, E., & Mackay, S. (2023). The role of universities in strengthening regional arts sectors: Central Queensland University and the Regional Arts Services Network. Journal of Arts Management Law and Society, 53(2), 136-151.
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2023 Ellison, E. (2023). Life's no beach: (Un)popular reality television of the Australian beach. Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 7(2), 289-302.
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2022 Ellison, E. (2022). Dirty, filthy cities: Australian crime films and cultural contexts in Melbourne and Sydney. Landscape Research, 47(7), 889-899.
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2022 Van Hemert, T., & Ellison, E. (2022). 'Punching above our weight': industry visibility and community engagement in rural and regional film festivals. New Review of Film and Television Studies, 20(4), 522-545.
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2022 Lastelle, M., Escobar, L., Lovell, G. P., Scanlan, A., Ellison, E., McGowan, L., & Guy, J. H. (2022). An exploration of goal scoring strategies in an elite beach soccer tournament. Science and Medicine in Football, 4(3), 192-195.
DOI
2020 McGowan, L., Ellison, E., & Lastella, M. (2020). Sea-level playing fields: an exploration of the histories of beach soccer and its practices within one specific context, the Australian beach. Soccer and Society, 21(3), 289-298.
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2020 Ellison, E., & Van Hemert, T. (2020). Regional screen cultures: the precarity and significance of Queensland's film festival landscape. Studies in Australasian Cinema, 14(2), 95-110.
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2020 Owens, A., Brien, D. L., Ellison, E., & Batty, C. (2020). Student reflections on doctoral learning: challenges and breakthroughs. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, 11(1), 107-122.
DOI Scopus30
2020 Batty, C., Ellison, E., Owens, A., & Brien, D. (2020). Mapping the emotional journey of the doctoral 'hero': challenges faced and breakthroughs made by creative arts and humanities candidates. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 19(4), 354-376.
DOI
2020 Ellison, E., & Batty, C. (2020). Collaborating upwards: writing across hierarchical boundaries. Text, 24(S59), 1-15.
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2019 Brien, D. L., Owens, A., Batty, C., & Ellison, E. (2019). Investigating candidates' research experience beyond the thesis: the peripheral world of the doctorate. Text, 23(S57), 1-17.
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2019 Pettet, M., & Ellison, E. (2019). The post-villain: ambiguous villain meets comic relief in Teen Wolf. Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 8(1), 41-54.
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2019 Brien, D. L., & Ellison, E. (2019). 'I feel I have found a tribe': investigating the Moodle discussion board writing of regional postgraduate creative practitioners. Text (Australia), 23(54), 1-16.
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2018 Ellison, E. (2018). The coastal memoir: an investigation of landscape in the nonfiction of Robert Drewe and Tim Winton. Axon: Creative Explorations, 8(2), 1-14.
2017 Ellison, E. (2017). The #AustralianBeachspace Project: examining opportunities for research dissemination using Instagram. M/C journal, 20(4), 1-5.
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2017 Ellison, E. (2017). Facing death on the Australian beach: examining fear and transcendence. TEXT, 21(45), 1-15.
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2016 Ellison, E. (2016). Badland beach: the Australian beach as a site of cultural remembering. International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, 12(1), 115-127.
DOI
2016 Ellison, E., & Hawkes, L. (2016). Australian beachspace: the plurality of an iconic site. Borderlands e-journal, 15(1), 1-20.
2001 Williams, M., Parsons, D., Frick, R., Ellis, E., Martin, A., Giles, S., & Grant, E. (2001). Acute respiratory infection in patients with cystic fibrosis with mild pulmonary impairment: Comparison of two physiotherapy regimens. Australian Journal of Physiotherapy, 47(4), 227-236.
DOI Scopus19 WoS17 Europe PMC11

Year Citation
2023 Ellison, E. (2023). Notes on a scandal: Lemon and Haigh on Australian cricket's 'Sandpapergate'. In L. McGowan, & K. Symons (Eds.), Source details - Title: Intersections of Sport and Society in Creative Writing (pp. 47-62). Singapore: Springer.
DOI
2020 Ryan, M. D., & Ellison, E. (2020). Beaches in Australian horror films: sites of fear and retreat. In E. Ellison, & D. L. Brein (Eds.), Source details - Title: Writing the Australian Beach: Local Site, Global Idea (pp. 125-141). Switzerland: Springer.
DOI
2020 Brien, D. L., Batty, C., Ellison, E., & Owens, A. (2020). Introduction. In Doctoral Experience Student Stories from the Creative Arts and Humanities (pp. 1-10).
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2020 Brien, D. L., Batty, C., Ellison, E., & Owens, A. (2020). Setting out on the doctoral degree: introduction to part. In D. L. Brien (Ed.), Source details - Title: The Doctoral Experience: Student Stories from the Creative Arts and Humanities (pp. 53-54). Switzerland: Springer.
2020 Brien, D. L., Batty, C., Ellison, E., & Owens, A. (2020). Completing the doctoral journey: introduction to part. In D. L. Brien (Ed.), Source details - Title: The Doctoral Experience: Student Stories from the Creative Arts and Humanities (pp. 183-186). Switzerland: Springer.
2020 Brien, D. L., Batty, C., Ellison, E., & Owens, A. (2020). Staying on the doctoral path: introduction to part. In D. L. Brien (Ed.), Source details - Title: The Doctoral Experience: Student Stories from the Creative Arts and Humanities (pp. 143-145). Switzerland: Springer.
2020 Brien, D. L., Batty, C., Ellison, E., & Owens, A. (2020). Taking ownership of the doctoral experience: introduction to part. In D. L. Brien (Ed.), Source details - Title: The Doctoral Experience: Student Stories from the Creative Arts and Humanities (pp. 103-106). Switzerland: Springer.
2020 Brien, D. L., Batty, C., Ellison, E., & Owens, A. (2020). Orienting towards the doctoral journey: introduction to part. In D. L. Brien (Ed.), Source details - Title: The Doctoral Experience: Student Stories from the Creative Arts and Humanities (pp. 11-14). Switzerland: Springer.
2020 Brien, D. L., Batty, C., Ellison, E., & Owens, A. (2020). Introduction - The doctoral experience: student stories from the creative arts and humanities. In D. L. Brien (Ed.), Source details - Title: The doctoral experience: student stories from the creative arts and humanities (pp. 1-10). Switzerland: Springer.
DOI
2020 Ellison, E., & Thompson, M. (2020). Sculptural coastlines: site-specific artworks, beachscapes, and regional identities. In A. Luyn, & E. Fuente (Eds.), Source details - Title: Regional Cultures, Economies, and Creativity: Innovating Through Place in Australia and Beyond (pp. 244-258). US: Routledge.
DOI
2020 Ellison, E., & Brien, D. L. (2020). Writing the Australian beach: texts, sites, events and people. In E. Ellison, & D. L. Brein (Eds.), Source details - Title: Writing the Australian Beach: Local Site, Global Idea (pp. 1-15). Switzerland: Springer.
DOI
2020 Maxwell, M., & Ellison, E. (2020). Sculpture by the sea: a visual essay. In E. Ellison, & D. L. Brein (Eds.), Source details - Title: Writing the Australian Beach: Local Site, Global Idea (pp. 209-225). Switzerland: Springer.
DOI
2020 Ellison, E. (2020). Surfers, lifeguards and new voices: a short history of beach writing in Australia. In E. Ellison, & D. L. Brein (Eds.), Source details - Title: Writing the Australian Beach: Local Site, Global Idea (pp. 19-37). Switzerland: Springer.
DOI
2020 McGowan, L., Ellison, E., & Lastella, M. (2020). Australian beach soccer: tracing paradoxical narratives. In E. Ellison, & D. L. Brein (Eds.), Source details - Title: Writing the Australian Beach: Local Site, Global Idea (pp. 181-194). Switzerland: Springer.
DOI
2019 Brien, D. L., Batty, C., Ellison, E., & Owens, A. (2019). Conclusion to volume. In D. L. Brien (Ed.), Source details - Title: The Doctoral Experience: Student Stories from the Creative Arts and Humanities (pp. 223-230). Switzerland: Springer.
DOI
2017 Ellison, E. (2017). The gritty urban: the Australian beach as city periphery in cinema. In D. Forrest, G. Harper, & J. Rayner (Eds.), Source details - Title: Filmurbia: Screening the Suburbs (pp. 79-94). UK: Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature.
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  • Dandhigu yimbana: Listening on Country for social-emotional wellbeing, Australian Research Council, 07/05/2025 - 31/12/2029

  • Decolonising Curatorial Practices: The Relationship Between Curation and Indigenous Artistic Representation?, UniSA-Donation via Foundation, 29/11/2024 - 30/04/2027

  • South Australian Contemporary Dance Sector Initiative, Arts SA, 29/09/2023 - 15/01/2024

  • Position: Dean, School of Communication, Media and Journalism
  • Email: elizabeth.ellison@adelaide.edu.au
  • Alternative Contact: Executive Assistant: Kylie Fogarty t: +61 8 830 22029 e: kylie.fogarty@unisa.edu.au

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