Melanie Baak

Teaching Strengths

Equity in Education
Inclusive Education
Diversity

APrf Melanie Baak

Associate Professor

School of Education

College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Available For Media Comment.

Melanie Baak is an Associate Professor in UniSA Education Futures and the co-convenor of the Migration and Refugee Research Network (MARRNet).  She is a 2023-2025 ARC DECRA Fellow and member of the Centre in Research for Educational and Social Inclusion (CRESI). Her research and teaching interests broadly cover areas of equity and inclusion, particularly in schools, with a focus on 'race', refugee education and resettlement.  Her research and teaching are underpinned by understandings of how systems and structures work to marginalise sections of the population, particularly culturally and linguistically diverse groups. 
In recent research projects she has collaborated with several refugee background communities recently resettled in Australia to explore themes including; belonging, schooling and education, employment, identity, home, place, transition, family and gender. Her DECRA project is exploring how belonging is experienced in Australian schools by Black African diaspora youth, and what schools can do to enhance belonging for these youth. She is a chief investigator on an ARC Linkage study (2018-2023) exploring how schools foster refugee student resilience. She has also had consultancies for Catholic Education SA to examine aspects of education for culturally diverse students. She has collaborated on research projects exploring aspects of equity in education including culturally responsive pedagogy and behviour management. 
Melanie received the Mid Career Researcher Award from UniSA Education Futures in 2023, the Early Career Researcher Award from the UniSA Division of Education Arts and Social Sciences in 2020 and an Early Career Researcher award at the Inclusive Education Summit in 2017 for her contributions to refugee education.   Melanie received an Australian Government Endeavour Research Fellowship to the University of Glasgow in 2017 during which time she researched schools as sites of resettlement for Syrian refugees in Glasgow. Melanie has had diverse roles in community development, education and research working with refugee background communities over the past 15 years.

Research projects include:

Enhancing belonging for African diaspora youth in Australian schools - ARC DECRA 2023-2025

Over recent decades, Australia’s Black African population has grown significantly and, as a visibly different community, they experience marginalisation in schools and other institutions. This presents significant challenges to their participation in, and contribution to, Australian society because research demonstrates that racial marginalisation inhibits educational, social, cultural and economic outcomes.  This study explores how Black African youth experience Australian schooling, and how schools can promote belonging through changes to teaching and learning in schools, teacher education programs, and state and national policies. Importantly, Black African youth will participate as active researchers alongside teachers to identify and trial possibilities for change in curriculum, teaching and professional learning. The study will identify strategies and practices to improve educational and social outcomes for Black African youth, enabling them to work with others in our increasingly diverse society to build social cohesion and cultural inclusion.

How schools foster refugee student resilience - ARC Linkage Grant 2018-2023

Research Team: Emeritus Professor Bruce Johnson, Dr Mel Baak, Associate Professor Anna Sullivan

This research aims to investigate how schools transcend refugee students' past life experiences by creating the social and educational conditions that enhance their resilience. It will focus on the policies, practices, relationships, and events that shape the schooling experiences of refugee students and promote their resilience. The study will provide education sectors, schools, and refugee service providers with crucial new knowledge about how school-based policies and practices can foster refugee student resilience. Outcomes of this project will include the development of research-based guides to good policy and practice in refugee education, and improved educational and social outcomes for refugee students.

Improving Educational Outcomes for Students from Refugee backgrounds in the South Australian Certificate of Education: A case study of two Catholic secondary schools  2016-2018

Research Team: Dr Melanie Baak, Associate Professor Kathleen Heugh, Professor Roger Slee, Associate Professor Anna Sullivan

Students from refugee backgrounds face significant challenges in successfully completing the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE). Little research has been conducted on the nature of and extent to which schools in initiate and implement policies and practices that engage successfully with students from refugee backgrounds and support them in their secondary education. This project will investigate and analyse a school-based intervention program to enhance the SACE outcomes of students from refugee backgrounds in South Australia.

Service provider experiences of mid to long term settlement challenges and mental health consequences for youth from refugee backgrounds 2016-18

Research Team: Dr Melanie Baak, Associate Professor Anna Ziersch, Dr Clemence Due, Associate Professor Tahereh Ziaian, Dr Shepard Masocha

Young people from refugee backgrounds are at risk of developing poor mental health (Fazel et al 2012). However, very few researchers have considered their long-term settlement outcomes. This project will explore education as one mainstream service which most young people from refugee backgrounds access. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the project will explore the understandings of staff in educational settings in identifying and referring students who might have mental health issues, as well as the perspectives of mental health personnel about how education settings can best support the mental health of young people from refugee backgrounds. Enterprising Research: Support services for youth from refugee backgrounds

Recent Book published:

Negotiating Belongings: Stories of forced migration of Dinka women from South Sudan, Sense Publishers, Netherlands.

Year Citation
2026 Baak, M. (2026). Laughing through discomfort: using humour to foster critical conversations about race with white teachers in Australia. Teaching Education, 1-18.
DOI
2025 Baker, S., Baak, M., Burke, R., Hartley, L., Kindon, S., Naidoo, L., . . . Ziersch, A. (2025). Making sense of academic service in unpredictable times: exploring the risks and benefits of academic activism in higher education. Higher Education Research and Development, 44(7), 1-16.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2
2025 Baak, M., Baddeley, M., Lejukole, J., Munyonge, E., Olliff, L., Saidi, I., & Treuren, G. J. M. (2025). Coloniality of employment selection processes: black Africa-born migrants' experiences of job-seeking in (White) Australia. Journal Of Industrial Relations, online, 1-25.
DOI
2025 Magoi, H., Gemoh, C., Chapman, D., Hypolite, E., Angok, S., Baak, M., & Windle, J. (2025). Building Community Amidst the Institutional Whiteness of Graduate Study: Black Joy and Maroon Moves in an Academic Marronage. Australian Journal Of Social Issues, online, 1-11.
DOI
2025 Baak, M., Baker, S., Hartley, L., Burke, R., Phipps, A., Kindon, S., . . . Ziersch, A. (2025). Decolonising solidarity in higher education: navigating barriers and enablers in advocacy with people from displaced backgrounds. International Journal of Inclusive Education, online, 1-17.
DOI Scopus2 WoS3
2025 Weuffen, S., Guenther, J., Ober, R., Sinclair, K., Poelina, V., Fricker, A., . . . Baak, M. (2025). First Nations students lived experiences of Australian schooling: A systematic literature review. Issues in Educational Research, 35(4), 1727-1761.
2024 Windle, J., Comber, B., Baak, M., Calle Diaz, L., Chapman, D., Jorge, M., . . . Trigos Carrillo, L. (2024). Exploring global literacies: playful provocations for connecting, resisting, and inspiring social action. Cadernos De Letras Da Uff, 35(69), 161-187.
DOI
2024 Tippett, N., Baak, M., Johnson, B., & Sullivan, A. (2024). What is ‘fair’ and ‘just’ in refugee education? How teachers and school leaders negotiate competing discourses of ‘equity’ and ‘equality’ in Australia. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 28(14), 3454-3469.
DOI Scopus7 WoS4
2024 Stahl, G., Schulz, S., Baak, M., & Adams, B. (2024). "You fight your battles and you work out how you're going to change": the implementation, embedding and limits of restorative practices in an Australian rural community school. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 52(1), 82-100.
DOI Scopus3 WoS2
2024 Miller, E., Ziaian, T., Baak, M., & de Anstiss, H. (2024). Recognition of refugee students' cultural wealth and social capital in resettlement. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 28(5), 611-628.
DOI Scopus16 WoS11
2024 Baak, M., & Chapman, D. (2024). Decolonising the curriculum through hospicing and collective re-imagining. Curriculum Perspectives, 44(1), 83-86.
DOI Scopus3
2024 Baak, M., Ogunbanwo, H., Hamed, S., Luwala, E., & Munyonge, J. (2024). 'Not one day did I ever learn anything about African heritage or cultures': the mis/non-representation of African cultures in Australian schools. ReConnectEd, 2(1), 17-24.
2024 Baak, M., Mayes, E., & Rizvi, F. (2024). Approaching educative responses to and about the Palestine crisis. Curriculum Perspectives, 44(3), 361-365.
DOI Scopus2
2023 Mwanri, L., Miller, E., Walsh, M., Baak, M., & Ziersch, A. (2023). Social capital and rural health for refugee communities in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(3, article no. 2378), 2378.
DOI Scopus15 Europe PMC5
2023 Baak, M., Miller, E., Johnson, B., & Sullivan, A. (2023). Structure and agency in the development of education policies for refugee-background students. Australian Educational Researcher, 50(2), 561-579.
DOI Scopus3 WoS3
2023 Baak, M., Miller, E., Johnson, B., & Sullivan, A. (2023). Correction to: Structure and agency in the development of education policies or refugee-background students. The Australian Educational Researcher, 50(4), 1273.
DOI
2023 Baak, M., McDonald, S., Johnson, B., & Sullivan, A. (2023). Why school context matters in refugee education. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 22(2), 283-299.
DOI Scopus10 WoS8
2022 Sullivan, A., Tippett, N., Manolev, J., Baak, M., & Johnson, B. (2022). Education department policy constructions within highly political contexts: a critical policy study of multiculturalism. Journal of Education Policy, 37(6), 883-903.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4
2022 Miller, E., Ziaian, T., de Anstiss, H., & Baak, M. (2022). Ecologies of resilience for Australian high school students from refugee backgrounds: quantitative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(2), 1-17.
DOI Scopus12 WoS9 Europe PMC6
2022 Olliff, L., Baak, M., Baddeley, M., Lino Lejukole, J., Munyonge, E., Saidi, I., & Treuren, G. J. M. (2022). "We will start building from that": social capital, social networks and African migrants' job-seeking experiences in Australia. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 57(3), 725-742.
DOI Scopus8 WoS6
2022 Miller, E., Ziaian, T., de Anstiss, H., & Baak, M. (2022). Practices for inclusion, structures of marginalisation: experiences of refugee background students in Australian secondary schools. Australian Educational Researcher, 49(5), 1063-1084.
DOI Scopus13 WoS12
2021 Baak, M., Miller, E., Sullivan, A., & Heugh, K. (2021). Tensions between policy aspirations and enactment: assessment and inclusion for refugee background students. Journal of Education Policy, 36(6), 760-778.
DOI Scopus19 WoS17
2021 Ziersch, A., Walsh, M., Baak, M., Rowley, G., Oudih, E., & Mwanri, L. (2021). “It is not an acceptable disease”: A qualitative study of HIV-related stigma and discrimination and impacts on health and wellbeing for people from ethnically diverse backgrounds in Australia. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1-15.
DOI Scopus69 WoS67 Europe PMC48
2021 Stahl, G., Baak, M., Schulz, S., Adams, B., & Peterson, A. (2021). Preventing violent extremism: Resourcing, stakeholder strategies and fostering belonging and connection in Australian schools. British Educational Research Journal, 47(5), 1177-1193.
DOI Scopus9 WoS8
2021 Baak, M., Stahl, G., Schulz, S., & Adams, B. (2021). ‘We have to be really careful’: policy intermediaries preventing violent extremism in an era of risk. Journal of Education Policy, 37(3), 461-481.
DOI Scopus14 WoS11
2021 Stahl, G., Baak, M., Schulz, S., & Peterson, A. (2021). A cautionary tale: CVE policy actors managing risk in Australian schools. Current Sociology, 71(5), 905-923.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4
2021 Schulz, S., Baak, M., Stahl, G., & Adams, B. (2021). Restorative practices for preventing/countering violent extremism: an affective-discursive examination of extreme emotional incidents. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 42(8), 1227-1245.
DOI Scopus7 WoS6
2020 Baak, M., Miller, E., Ziersch, A., Due, C., Masocha, S., & Ziaian, T. (2020). The Role of Schools in Identifying and Referring Refugee Background Young People Who Are Experiencing Mental Health Issues. Journal of School Health, 90(3), 172-181.
DOI Scopus34 WoS30 Europe PMC12
2020 Ziersch, A., Miller, E., Baak, M., & Mwanri, L. (2020). Integration and social determinants of health and wellbeing for people from refugee backgrounds resettled in a rural town in South Australia: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 20(1700), 1-16.
DOI Scopus71 WoS52 Europe PMC30
2019 Baak, M., & Miller, E. (2019). 'Everything's about English...': English as an additional language as a diagnosis of deficit for students from refugee backgrounds. Redress, 28(2), 39-43.
2019 Due, C., De Heer, N., Baak, M., & Hanson-Easey, S. (2019). “At night he cries from dreams”: Perceptions of children's psychological distress and wellbeing amongst parents with refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds in Australia. Australian Psychologist, 54(5), 438-449.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5
2019 Baak, M. (2019). Racism and Othering for South Sudanese heritage students in Australian schools: is inclusion possible?. International journal of inclusive education, 23(2), 125-141.
DOI Scopus129 WoS102
2015 Baak, M. K. (2015). Transnational families, remittances, cieng and obligation for Dinka women in Australia. Emotion, space and society, 16, 123-129.
DOI Scopus21 WoS17
2011 Baak, M. (2011). Diasporic mourning and negotiating belongings in response to murder. Social alternatives, 30(2), 9-12.
WoS7
2011 Baak, M. (2011). Murder, community talk and belonging: an exploration of Sudanese community responses to murder in Australia. African identities, 9(4), 417-434.
DOI Scopus25

Year Citation
2025 Baak, M., & Aslan, M. (2025). Refugee education for resettled refugees in settler colonial Australia: beyond conditional inclusion. In J. Maire (Ed.), Source details - Title: A Modern Guide to Refugee Education (pp. 184-204). UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
DOI
2021 Baak, M. (2021). Once a refugee, always a refugee? The haunting of the refugee label in resettlement. In J. Silverstein, & R. Stevens (Eds.), Source details - Title: Refugee Journeys: histories of resettlement, representation and resistance (pp. 51-70). Australia: Australian National University.
DOI WoS6
2019 Baak, M., Summers, R., Masocha, S., Tedmanson, D., Gale, P., Pieters, J., & Kuac, A. (2019). Surveillance, belonging and community spaces for young people from refugee backgrounds in Australia. In S. Habib, & M. R. M. Ward (Eds.), Source details - Title: Youth, place and theories of belonging (pp. 25-38). UK: Routledge.
DOI Scopus9 WoS4
2019 Baak, M. (2019). Schooling displaced Syrian students in Glasgow: agents of inclusion. In Source details - Title: Educational policies and practices of English-speaking refugee resettlement countries (pp. 267-292). Netherlands: Brill Sense.
DOI WoS8
2016 Baak, M. (2016). Overcoming the 'hidden injuries' of students from refugee backgrounds: the importance of caring teacher-student relationships. In A. Sullivan (Ed.), Source details - Title: Challenging dominant views on student behaviour at school (pp. 145-161). Singapore: Springer.
DOI Scopus13
2016 Baak, M. (2016). FRIENDSHIP AND NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS THROUGH RESEARCH. In NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS: STORIES OF FORCED MIGRATION OF DINKA WOMEN FROM SOUTH SUDAN (Vol. 30, pp. 29-46). SENSE PUBLISHERS.
WoS3
2016 Baak, M. (2016). THE HAUNTED NATURE OF INTERPRETING, TRANSLATING AND TRANSCRIBING. In NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS: STORIES OF FORCED MIGRATION OF DINKA WOMEN FROM SOUTH SUDAN (Vol. 30, pp. 221-226). SENSE PUBLISHERS.
2016 Baak, M. (2016). BECOMING NATIONALS, BEING AND BECOMING CITIZENS <i>Searching for Belonging in the Nation</i>-<i>State</i>. In NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS: STORIES OF FORCED MIGRATION OF DINKA WOMEN FROM SOUTH SUDAN (Vol. 30, pp. 47-74). SENSE PUBLISHERS.
2016 Baak, M. (2016). THE WOMEN'S JOURNEYS. In NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS: STORIES OF FORCED MIGRATION OF DINKA WOMEN FROM SOUTH SUDAN (Vol. 30, pp. 211-220). SENSE PUBLISHERS.
2016 Baak, M. (2016). KOOC PAN DA Negotiating Belonging with 'The People of Our Place'. In NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS: STORIES OF FORCED MIGRATION OF DINKA WOMEN FROM SOUTH SUDAN (Vol. 30, pp. 133-162). SENSE PUBLISHERS.
2016 Baak, M. (2016). NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS THROUGH 'LOCAL' PLACE IN A GLOBALISED WORLD. In NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS: STORIES OF FORCED MIGRATION OF DINKA WOMEN FROM SOUTH SUDAN (Vol. 30, pp. 109-132). SENSE PUBLISHERS.
2016 Baak, M. (2016). BEING AND BECOMING <i>DIAARJANG</i>. In NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS: STORIES OF FORCED MIGRATION OF DINKA WOMEN FROM SOUTH SUDAN (Vol. 30, pp. 75-108). SENSE PUBLISHERS.
2016 Baak, M. (2016). NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS THROUGH <i>CIENG</i>. In NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS: STORIES OF FORCED MIGRATION OF DINKA WOMEN FROM SOUTH SUDAN (Vol. 30, pp. 163-186). SENSE PUBLISHERS.
2016 Baak, M. (2016). HAUNTED JOURNEYS <i>Being</i>, <i>Becoming and Belonging</i>. In NEGOTIATING BELONGINGS: STORIES OF FORCED MIGRATION OF DINKA WOMEN FROM SOUTH SUDAN (Vol. 30, pp. 1-27). SENSE PUBLISHERS.

Year Citation
2023 Miller, E., Ziaian, T., de Anstiss, H., & Baak, M. (2023). Inclusive school practices in countries of refugee resettlement: A mixed methods study with students. In INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY Vol. 58 (pp. 419). JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD.
2018 Ziersch, A., Mwanri, L., & Baak, M. (2018). Regional resettlement and health and wellbeing for people from refugee backgrounds in South Australia. In EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Vol. 28 (pp. 85). OXFORD UNIV PRESS.
2010 Baak, M. K. (2010). Murder, community talk and belonging: an exploration of Sudanese community responses to murder. In A. Hayes, & R. Mason (Eds.), Migrant Security: 2010 (pp. 25-34). Australia: University of Southern Queensland.

Year Citation
2026 Baak, M., Miller, E., & Windle, J. (2026). Promoting wellbeing through school-based anti-racism initiatives: an evaluation of a whole school initiative.
2025 Baak, M., Windle, J., Bediako, K., Miller, E., Magoi, H., & Maughan, L. (2025). African Communities Response (ACR) program evaluation. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2025 Baak, M., Maughan, L., & Rojas Quimbay, M. (2025). Enhancing belonging for African diaspora students in Australia: action research with secondary schools. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2024 Baak, M., Johnson, B., Brown, J., & Morgan, S. (2024). Refugee students' views about how schools can foster resilience: what helps, what hinders and what needs to change. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2024 McDonald, S., Baak, M., & Adams, B. (2024). Kain Foundation Northern Opportunities Program evaluation. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2024 Baak, M., Windle, J., & Miller, E. (2024). Youth connect program evaluation. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2021 Baak, M., Tippett, N., Johnson, B., Brown, J., & Sullivan, A. (2021). Refugee education in Australian secondary schools: an overview of current practices. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2019 Baak, M., & Miller, E. (2019). Engagement with African-Australian families in South Australian Catholic Schools. Australia: Catholic Education South Australia.
2019 Johnson, B., Sullivan, A., Slee, R., & Baak, M. (2019). What is resilience?. South Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2019 Baak, M., Johnson, B., Sullivan, A., Slee, R., Brown, J. L., & Miller, E. (2019). School practices to support students from refugee backgrounds. South Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2019 Baak, M., Johnson, B., Sullivan, A., Slee, R., & Miller, E. (2019). Who are refugee background young people?. South Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2019 Slee, R., Johnson, B., Sullivan, A., & Baak, M. (2019). What is inclusive education?. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2019 Sullivan, A., Baak, M., Johnson, B., Slee, R., & Manolev, J. (2019). Understanding Australian multicultural policy. Australia: University of South Australia.
DOI
2018 Baak, M., Miller, E., Sullivan, A., & Heugh, K. (2018). Improving educational outcomes for students from refugee backgrounds in the South Australian certificate of education project: a case study of two Catholic schools. Australia: University of South Australia.

  • Promoting wellbeing through school-based anti-racism initiatives, The Trustee for The Montebello Foundation, 01/07/2024 - 31/12/2025

  • Culturally responsive interventions to justice-involved African-Australians: research evaluation, SA Dept of Human Services, 02/12/2024 - 31/08/2025

  • Kain Foundation Northern Opportunities Evaluation Proposal, Kain Foundation, 01/05/2024 - 01/10/2024

  • How schools foster refugee student resilience, ARC - Linkage Project, 12/06/2018 - 31/12/2023

  • Improving Educational Outcomes for Students from Refugee backgrounds in the South Australian Certificate of Education: a case study of two Catholic secondary schools, Catholic Education Office, 01/09/2016 - 30/04/2018

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2023 Principal Supervisor 110880 - Enhancing belonging for African diaspora youth in Australian schools Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Edmund Hypolite
2023 Principal Supervisor Understanding early school leaving among Afro diaspora youth Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Hellen Magoi
2023 Co-Supervisor An examination of the use of green spaces and its influence on wellbeing for African diaspora youth in an Australian city  Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Alicia Soi
2023 Principal Supervisor (Re)thinking Cultural Safety and Belonging for Afro-diasporans inAustralian Schools Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Casianus Gemoh
2022 Principal Supervisor Redesigning teaching for a fairer Australia: exploring the role of racial literacy Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Margaret Lovell
2022 Co-Supervisor Towards critical global literacies: building social participation and citizenship in a superdiverse world Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Lyn Sherise Rowberry
2018 Principal Supervisor Second language acquisition for first-generation school-age Sri Lankan migrant students within the Australian education system Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mrs Vihara Hansika Madhubashini Dumbukola Maheepala

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