Associate Professor Emma George

Program Director Occupational Therapy

School of Allied Health Science and Practice

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

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

As an occupational therapist (Ahpra registration #1749421) I am fascinated by the role and importance of occupation as a right for health and well-being. My research projects all explore the way we address health inequities among marginalised people and communities with a commitment to social and occupational justice. I have led and collaborated in research on national policy implementation, the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities, and the recovery from exploitation and modern slavery in Australia and India. In all of my research I am committed to learning more about occupational injustices (marginalisation, alienation, deprivation, imbalance, apartheid and dysfunction), the recognition and realisation of rights, and the response of allied health in order to promote equity and justice, culturally safe practice and trauma informed care.

I am happy for students to contact me to discuss potential research projects ideas and supervision.

My Research
Career
Publications
Grants and Funding
Teaching
Supervision
Professional Activities
Contact

Research interests:

Addressing occupational injustices and promoting occupational rights
Recovery from human trafficking and modern slavery
Equitable accessibility of health care for marginalised communities
Aboriginal childhood and culturally safe and responsive allied health service provision

Current major projects:

"Expanding Collaborations for Occupational Justice Research and Education in India" - Building on our previous collaborations, this project enhances understanding of occupational justice to strengthen occupational therapy practice, research and education. The team will deliver a tailored workshop series that features the Modified Occupational Justice Health Questionnaire (M-OJHQ). This project is a partnership with Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Manipal) and Christian Medical College Vellore. Strategic dialogue enabled by this grant serves as a platform for consolidating partnerships, and collaboration for future projects. Our partnership processes reflect reciprocity and a commitment to advancing and contextualizing occupational justice globally.
"Authentic Collaboration and Co-design with Marginalised Communities" - Knowledge cocreation and codesign with communities are increasingly recognised as essential components of research to ensure that health and social services meet needs and are meaningful to those they intend to reach. Building on previous research, industry projects, and new collaborations, this project enables in-depth scoping and co-design workshops with marginalised communities, bringing together a network of partners. This project draws on emancipatory research methodology to apply the Capabilities, Opportunities, Resources and Environments (CORE) approach to enable ‘justice in action’.
"Piloting a Modified Occupational Justice Health Questionnaire" - This project aims to pilot a new research tool for use with marginalised women in rural India. This work follows two successive grants through the Australia India Institute, in partnership with the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) and Good Shepherd (GS). From an occupational justice perspective, marginalized women in rural India experience occupational injustice through alienation from meaningful activity, occupational deprivation leading to marginalisation, and occupational imbalance where they are over-occupied, under-occupied or unoccupied. Marginalisation of women is seen in the way that gender and caste make them vulnerable to discrimination and exploitation, and can lead to deprivation. Women in these situations are often unable to seek help and are described as “invisible” to mainstream society, held captive by the unfair cultural, societal, and power-based relationships that force them to work under exploitative conditions. The main outcome of this research is the development of three case narratives from women in rural India.

Appointments

Date	Position	Institution name
2025 - 2025	Research Theme Leader: Sustaining Healthy Communities	Australia India Institute
2024 - ongoing	World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) Delegate	Occupational Therapy Australia
2024 - ongoing	Board Director	Occupational Therapy Australia
2022 - ongoing	Program Director - Occupational Therapy	University of Adelaide
2020 - 2024	World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) 1st Alternate Delegate	Occupational Therapy Australia
2019 - 2022	Senior Lecturer Occupational Therapy	University of Adelaide
2018 - 2019	Lecturer Occupational Therapy	Flinders University
2016 - 2020	PhD Candidate - NHMRC Funded Scholarhip	Flinders University
2015 - 2015	Lecturer: Equity	University of South Australia
2012 - 2015	Lecturer Occupational Therapy	University of South Australia
2011 - 2012	Lecturer: Equity, Indigenous Student Support	University of South Australia

Education

Date	Institution name	Country	Title
2016 - 2020	Flinders University	Australia	Doctor of Philosophy
2013 - 2014	Flinders University	Australia	Master of Public Health
2010 - 2012	Flinders University	Australia	Master of Health and International Development
1998 - 2001	University of South Australia	Australia	Bachelor of Applied Science (OT)

Research Interests

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Health Policy Human Rights and Justice Issues Public Health Child and Adolescent Health Indigenous and Disadvantaged Health

Journals

Year	Citation
2025	Stanhope, J., Foley, K., Butler, M., Boddy, J., Clanchy, K., George, E., . . . Weinstein, P. (2025). Australian allied health professionals’ perspectives on current practice, benefits, challenges, and opportunities in nature-based approaches. Health and Place, 93, 14 pages. DOI
2025	George, E., Moorthy, S., Tommaso, A. D., Rankin, E., Oxlad, M., Murthy, G. V., . . . D’Souza, B. (2025). Developing a modified and contextualised Occupational Justice Health Questionnaire (OJHQ) for use with marginalised populations: A Delphi study. Journal of Occupational Science, 1-22. DOI
2025	George, E., Fisher, M., Mackean, T., & Baum, F. (2025). Implementing 'Closing the Gap' policy through mainstream service provision: A South Australian case study. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 36(1), e884-1-e884-12. DOI Europe PMC1
2024	Huppatz, E., George, E., Wicks, A., & Whiteford, G. (2024). Exploring occupational participation and engagement during disaster through the lens of the Participatory Occupational Justice Framework. Journal of Occupational Science, 32(1), 1-13. DOI Scopus2
2024	George, E., Ritchie, T., Ryan, A., Fisher, M., Baum, F., & Mackean, T. (2024). "Listen with your ears and eyes and heart and your minds and your soul": Implications for decolonising consultation and occupational therapy from case studies on "Closing the Gap" policy implementation. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 71(3), 379-391. DOI
2024	George, E. (2024). Reflecting on research at the interface of knowledge and the importance of decolonising transformational unlearning for non-Indigenous researchers. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 27(6), 735-745. DOI Scopus5
2024	George, E., Jameel, S., Attrill, S., Tetali, S., Watson, E., Yadav, L., . . . Grills, N. (2024). Telehealth as a Strategy for Health Equity: A Scoping Review of Telehealth in India During and Following the COVID-19 Pandemic for People with Disabilities. Telemedicine and e-Health, 30(6), 0609-1-0609-10. DOI Scopus2
2023	George, E., Mackean, T., Fisher, M., & Baum, F. (2023). Analysing the Inconsistent Recognition of Indigenous Rights in Early Childhood Policy Documents from the Australian Government's "Closing the Gap" Strategy Between 2008-2018. The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 14(3), 1-26. DOI Scopus3
2023	Fisher, M., Harris, P., Freeman, T., George, E., & Baum, F. (2023). Universal and Targeted Policy for Health Equity in the Neoliberal Era : A Response to the Recent Commentaries. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 12(1), 7998-1-7998-2. DOI Scopus1
2022	Fisher, M., Harris, P., Freeman, T., Mackean, T., George, E., Friel, S., & Baum, F. (2022). Implementing universal and targeted policies for health equity: lessons from Australia. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 11(10), 2308-2318. DOI Scopus28 WoS9 Europe PMC21
2021	Fisher, M., Mackean, T., George, E., Friel, S., & Baum, F. (2021). Stakeholder perceptions of policy implementation for Indigenous health and cultural safety: A study of Australia's 'Closing the Gap' policies. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 80(2), 239-260. DOI Scopus21 WoS8
2020	Fairlie, L., Stanley, M., George, E., Sereda, B., & Mosewich, A. D. (2020). Navigating the shift from netballer to former netballer: the experience of retirement from elite netball in Australia. Sport in Society, 23(7), 1100-1118. DOI Scopus2 WoS2
2019	George, E., & Stanley, M. (2019). Exploring the occupational injustices of human trafficking. Journal of Occupational Science, 26(3), 394-407. DOI Scopus11 WoS7
2019	George, E., Mackean, T., Baum, F., & Fisher, M. (2019). Social determinants of Indigenous health and Indigenous Rights in policy: A scoping review and analysis of problem representation. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 10(2), 1-27. DOI Scopus29 WoS18
2018	George, E., & Stanley, M. (2018). Occupational therapy and the fight against human trafficking. Norwegian Journal of Occupational Therapy: Ergoterapeuten, 61(4), 50-53.
2018	George, E., Tsourtos, G., & McNaughton, D. (2018). 'It's just about the crime, not the victim': critical insights from Australian service providers working with people who have been trafficked. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 30(1), 1-18. DOI WoS17
2017	George, E., Schmidt, C., Vella, G., & McDonagh, I. (2017). Promoting the rights and responsibilities of children: a South Australian example. GLOBAL HEALTH PROMOTION, 24(1), 53-57. DOI Scopus7 WoS3 Europe PMC3
2017	George, E., McNaughton, D., & Tsourtos, G. (2017). An Interpretive Analysis of Australia’s Approach to Human Trafficking and Its Focus on Criminal Justice Over Public Health. Journal of Human Trafficking, 3(2), 81-92. DOI Scopus10
2014	George, E., Rosso, E., Burnard, K., & Drew, E. (2014). "Spark Awareness, Brighten Futures": Raising aspirations to tertiary education in disadvantaged communities through sport. Education and Health, 32(3), 80-84. Scopus3

Book Chapters

Year	Citation
2021	Peart, A., George, E., Vogt, K., & Elliot, T. (2021). The role of occupational therapy in primary health care in Australia. In T. Brown, H. Bourke-Taylor, S. Isbel, R. Cordier, & L. Gustafsson (Eds.), Occupational Therapy in Australia: Professional and Practice Issues (Second Edition ed., pp. 357-367). Milton Park, Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK: Routledge.
2017	George, E., & Vogt, K. (2017). The role of occupational therapy in primary health care in Australia. In T. Brown, H. Bourke-Taylor, S. Isbel, & R. Cordier (Eds.), Occupational Therapy in Australia: Professional and Practice Issues (pp. 311-319). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin.
2017	Gilbert Hunt, S., Sellar, B., Berndt, A., George, E., Thomas, K., & Foley, K. M. (2017). From Rhetoric to Reality: Community Development in Occupational Therapy Curriculum. In N. Pollard, & D. Sakellariour (Eds.), Occupational Therapy Without Borders: Integrating Justice with Practice (2 ed., pp. 561-573). United Kingdom: Elsevier.

Conference Papers

Year	Citation
2024	Huppatz, E., George, E., Pereira, R., & Whiteford, G. (2024). Restoration of occupational justice in disaster recovery. In Unpublished. Sapporo, Japan.
2024	Moorthy, S. D., Di Tommaso, A., & George, E. (2024). Contextualising the Occupational Justice Health Questionnaire for use in India among populations of people who are marginalised and experience exploitation. In Unpublished. Sapporo, Japan.
2024	Reyes, R. C. D., Sy, M., George, E., & Guevara, C. (2024). Occupational justice health questionnaire: A tool for the advocacy and promotion of occupational participation. In Unpublished. Sapporo, Japan.
2024	Huppatz, E., George, E., & Whiteford, G. (2024). Restoration of occupational justice in disaster events: lessons learnt from collective occupational responses to disaster in the Australian context. In Unpublished. Sapporo, Japan.
2024	George, E., D'Souza, B., Huppatz, E., & Whiteford, G. (2024). A critical discussion on participatory occupational justice for women exploited in sexual servitude in India. In Unpublished. Sapporo, Japan.
2023	George, E. (2023). How to make evidence-based practice exciting for occupational therapists? Examples from teaching and research on occupational justice and occupational therapy practice. In Unpublished. Warsaw, Poland.
2022	George, E. (2022). An occupational justice perspective in the fight against human trafficking: lessons learned from research and advocacy’. In https://www.traffickingconference.com/2022-conference. The University of Toledo, OHIO.
2022	George, E. (2022). Amplifying occupational justice and equity in occupational therapy through podcasting. In https://wfotcongress2022.org/. Paris, France.
2021	George, E., Mackean, T., Fisher, M., & Baum, F. (2021). Decolonising consultation and understanding power imbalances: Lessons learned from the implementation of the ‘Closing the Gap’ strategy in early childhood. In Australian Occupational Therapy Journal. Online: Wiley.
2019	George, E. (2019). The role of occupational therapy in the fight against human trafficking. In Australian Occupational Therapy Journal Vol. 66. Sydney, Australia. DOI
2019	George, E., & Mackean, T. (2019). The power of occupation as a method for community engagement in decolonising research: a comparative case study on implementation of the ‘Closing the Gap’ strategy. In Australian Occupational Therapy Journal Vol. 66. Sydney, Australia.
2019	Macken, T., FIsher, M., George, E. K., Friel, S., & Baum, F. (2019). Improving ‘Closing the Gap’ policy to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty and wellbeing’. In Lowitja Institute. Darwin, Australia.
2018	George, E. K., & Mackean, T. (2018). To what extent are Indigenous Rights recognised within the Australian government’s ‘Closing the Gap’ strategy in early childhood: an analysis of national policy documents 2009-2016'. In 25th World Congress of Political Science. online: IPSA.
2018	George, E. K., & Stanley, M. (2018). ‘Human Trafficking and Occupational Justice. In World Federation of Occupational Therapists. Cape Town, South Africa.
2017	George, E. K., & Mackean, T. (2017). Reflections on a decolonising approach in research at the interface of knowledge. In Australian Occupational Therapy Journal Vol. 64. Perth, Australia.
2014	George, E. K., & Ritchie, T. (2014). A New Chapter for Occupational Therapy in South Australia. In Indigenous Allied Health Australia. Adelaide, Australia.

Conference Items

Year	Citation
2023	George, E., & Cook, B. (2023). Poster: Occupational therapy podcasts: what, how and why we engage in this occupation. Poster session presented at the meeting of Occupational Therapy Australia 30th National Conference and Exhibition 2023. Cairns, Queensland.
2023	Lo, A., George, E., & Mackenzine, L. (2023). Poster: Insights and Perspectives into the WFOT (World Federation of Occupational Therapists) for Australian Occupational Therapists. Poster session presented at the meeting of Occupational Therapy Australia 30th National Conference and Exhibition 2023.
2022	George, E., & Stanhope, J. (2022). A call for global evidence on the important role of occupational therapy in recovery from modern slavery. Poster session presented at the meeting of https://wfotcongress2022.org/. Paris, France.
2014	Denton, K., Pyman, A., & George, E. K. (2014). Process and Outcomes: Fostering a participatory community approach with Aboriginal youth. Poster session presented at the meeting of South Australian Occupational Therapy Conference. Adelaide, Australia.

Report for External Bodies

Year	Citation
2023	George, E. (2023). WFOT Update. Connections: OTs in Action.
2023	George, E. (2023). WFOT Update. Connections: Reflection and Progression.
2023	George, E. (2023). WFOT Update. Connections: Spotlight on lived experience and co-design in mental health.
2023	George, E. (2023). WFOT Update. Connections: Enhancing accessibility for health, independence and participation.
2022	George, E. (2022). WFOT Update. Connections: Communication and Collaborations https://otaus.com.au/member-resources/publications.
2022	George, E. (2022). WFOT Update. Connections: Spotlight on OTs in Mental Health.
2022	George, E., & Lo, A. (2022). WFOT Update. Connections: Where can technology take us? https://otaus.com.au/member-resources/publications.
2022	George, E. (2022). WFOT Update. Connections: How important is Innovation in your Practice? https://otaus.com.au/member-resources/publications.
2021	George, E. (2021). WFOT Update. Connections: From Theory to Practice https://otaus.com.au/member-resources/publications.
2021	George, E. (2021). WFOT Update. Connections: Supporting our Communities https://otaus.com.au/member-resources/publications.
2021	George, E. (2021). WFOT Update. Connections: Brighter Futures https://otaus.com.au/member-resources/publications.
2021	George, E. (2021). WFOT Update. Connections: This is OT https://otaus.com.au/member-resources/publications.

Theses

Year	Citation
2020	George, E. (2020). Bandaid for a bullet wound”: the inconsistent recognition of Indigenous rights and social determinants of Indigenous health in ‘Closing the Gap’ policy implementation in early childhood. (PhD Thesis, Flinders University).
2014	George, E. (2014). Exploring Human Trafficking in Australia and the Implications for Service Delivery and Public Health. (Master's Thesis, Flinders University).

Internet Publications

Year	Citation
2024	Fisher, M., George, E., Baum, F., Macken, T., & Friel, S. (2024). Codesign and place-based approaches: Lessons from Indigenous-led initiatives in Australian's primary health sector.
2024	Hausler, S., Sargeant, K., & George, E. (2024). Understanding allied health services addressing puberty: a scoping review protocol. Open Science Framework.
2023	Grills, N., McGuckin, M., Sood, S., Viggeswarapu, R., Kukkuru, M. G., Shanbhag, D. N., . . . Murthy, G. V. S. (2023). Virtual Healthcare: Torwards an Inclusive Future of Healthcare.
2020	George, E., & Stanhope, J. (2020). Optimising recovery with occupational therapy for people who have experienced modern slavery: A protocol for a scoping review. ResearchGate. DOI

Preprint

Year	Citation
2024	Stanhope, J., Foley, K., Butler, M., Boddy, J., Clanchy, K., George, E., . . . Weinstein, P. (2024). Nature-based allied health: current practice, challenges and opportunities. DOI

2025: Global Partnership Engagement Fund. University of Adelaide. Project: Expanding Collaborations for Occupational Justice Research and Education in India. $9,980.

2025: Building Leaders Research Scheme. Faculty of Health and Medical Scienes. Project: Authentic Collaboration and Co-design with Marginalised Communities. $36,824.

2024: Early Grant Development Award. Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Internal Strategic Research Support Schemes. Project: Occupational justice case narratives with marginalised women in India. $20,000.

2024-2025: New Colombo Plan, Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Project: Allied health student placement in India. $143,000.

2023: Unnati Research Collaboration Grant, Australia India Institute. Project: Developing an enhanced model of care for survivors of exploitation. $29,700.

2023: AIRS Fellowship, Australia India Institute. Project: Critiquing the ‘Occupational Justice Health Questionnaire’ for use with survivors of sexual servitude and exploitation in India. $6,200.

2022: Australia India Council, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Project: VirtuCare: co‐designing disability‐inclusive virtual healthcare and rehabilitation in India. $176,000.

2022: School of Allied Health Science and Practice Research Support Grant, The University of Adelaide. Project: VirtuCare: co-designing disability-inclusive virtual healthcare and rehabilitation. $4,900

2021: School of Allied Health Science and Practice Research Support Grant, The University of Adelaide. Project: Amplifying occupational justice in practice through podcasting as a research method. $2,490

2021: School of Allied Health Science and Practice Research Support Grant, The University of Adelaide. Project: Nature-based interventions in allied health: current practice, challenges and opportunities. $2,480

2016-2018: NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence for Social Determinants and Health Equity (Flinders University) - PhD Scholarship $30,000 per year.

2016: Flinders University, School of Medicine, Seeding Grant, Student Investigator. Funds: $13,260

I am the Program Director for the Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours).

I have experience teaching occupational science, public health, Aboriginal health, and supervising community based projects and placements.

Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Date	Role	Research Topic	Program	Degree Type	Student Load	Student Name
2024	Principal Supervisor	Enabling occupational transition, participation and social inclusion for women leaving ritualistic sexual slavery in rural Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Part Time	Ms Caitlin Prince
2024	Co-Supervisor	Access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS): An exploration of how individuals and families access the scheme for the first time.	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Part Time	Miss Jessica Lee Charlton

Memberships

Date	Role	Membership	Country
2020 - ongoing	Member	Australasian Society of Occupational Scientists	Australia
2020 - ongoing	Member	Environmental Physiotherapy Association	Australia
2018 - ongoing	Member	Occupational Therapy Australia	Australia
2018 - ongoing	Member	World Federation of Occupational Therapists	Australia
2011 - ongoing	Member	Indigenous Allied Health Australia	Australia

Position: Program Director Occupational Therapy
Phone: 83133122
Email: emma.george@adelaide.edu.au
Campus: North Terrace
Building: Engineering and Maths. Sciences, floor Fourth Floor
Room: 408B
Org Unit: Occupational Therapy