Matt Fisher

Dr Matt Fisher

Senior Research Fellow

School of Social Sciences

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics


Dr Matt Fisher is a Senior Research Fellow in Public Health, with the Stretton Health Equity research unit, part of the Stretton Institute and School of Social Sciences at The University of Adelaide. Dr Fisher completed his PhD in political philosophy in 2010, before taking up a research role with the Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity at Flinders University. Since that time, his research has focused on two broad issues: 1) how and why public policy does or does not address social determinants of health and health equity (SDH-HE); and 2) how policy action on social determinants can be improved to promote public health and reduce health inequities.
Dr Fisher’s work has focused mainly on public policy and public health in an Australian context and investigated policy in a range of areas including Australian health policy, Indigenous health, primary health care, telecommunications, urban planning and urban environments, environmental policy, early childhood education, and justice. Dr Fisher’s research on policy has applied a range of theoretical concepts from policy studies to explain policy action or inaction on SDH/HE, such as power, political will, the policy cycle, Kingdon’s three streams model of policy development, and the role of Ideas, Interests, and Institutions in determining policy. He has also contributed to theory development, for example in developing and applying a framework to assess Indigenous cultural safety in public policy and publishing work on the role of universal and targeted policies in advancing health equity. With colleagues, Dr Fisher has also conducted research on digital health services, and on the role of transnational corporations as commercial determinants of health.
Dr Fisher had a particular interest in understanding the social factors that affect chronic stress and mental illness, and what they mean for public policy and social change to prevent mental ill-health and promote human wellbeing. In 2019 he published ‘A theory of public wellbeing’ in BMC Public Health, which defined seven wellbeing abilities and showed how these can be promoted or inhibited by social conditions. In 2021 he developed this theoretical work further in an article on ‘Moving social policy from mental illness to public wellbeing’ published in the Journal of Social Policy. In 2020, with Indigenous colleagues, he published research investigating ‘Theories of Indigenous and non-Indigenous wellbeing in Australian health policies’ in Health Promotion International.

  • Journals

    Year Citation
    2023 Fisher, M., Harris, P., Freeman, T., George, E., & Baum, F. (2023). Universal and Targeted Policy for Health Equity in the Neoliberal Era. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 12(1).
    DOI
    2022 Fisher, M., Freeman, T., Mackean, T., Friel, S., & Baum, F. (2022). Universal Health Coverage for Health Equity: From Principle to Practice; A Response to the Recent Commentaries. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 11(8), 1-3.
    DOI
    2022 Anaf, J., Baum, F., Fisher, M., Haigh, F., Miller, E., Gesesew, H., & Freudenberg, N. (2022). Assessing the health impacts of transnational corporations: a case study of Carlton and United Breweries in Australia. Globalization and Health, 18(1), 22 pages.
    DOI
    2022 Mackean, T., Shakespeare, M., & Fisher, M. (2022). Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Theories of Wellbeing and Their Suitability for Wellbeing Policy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(18), 16 pages.
    DOI
    2022 Schram, A., Townsend, B., Mackean, T., Freeman, T., Fisher, M., Harris, P., . . . Friel, S. (2022). Promoting action on structural drivers of health inequity: principles for policy evaluation. Evidence and Policy: a journal of research, debate and practice, 18(4), 761-775.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1
    2022 Musolino, C., Van Eyk, H., Freeman, T., Fisher, M., MacDougall, C., Williams, C., & Baum, F. (2022). Reviving health promotion in South Australia: The role of ideas, actors and institutional forces. Health Promotion International, 37(6), 12 pages.
    DOI
    2022 Freeman, T., Fisher, M., Foley, K., Boyd, M. A., Ward, P. R., McMichael, G., . . . Dekker, G. (2022). Barriers to digital health services among people living in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage: Research from hospital diabetes and antenatal clinics.. Health Promot J Austr, 33(3), 751-757.
    DOI
    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 Scopus5 WoS5 Europe PMC1
    2022 Roesler, A., Musolino, C., van Eyk, H., Flavel, J., Freeman, T., Fisher, M., . . . Baum, F. (2022). Conducting a rapid health promotion audit in suburban Adelaide, South Australia: Can it contribute to revitalising health promotion?. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 33(2), 488-498.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1
    2022 Littleton, C., Star, C., Fisher, M., & Ward, P. R. (2022). Policy actors' perceptions on applying a SDH approach in child health policy in Australia: A cross‐disciplinary approach (public health and political science). Australian Journal of Public Administration, 81(1), 70-94.
    DOI Scopus3 WoS3
    2021 Fisher, I. M. (2021). Moving Social Policy from Mental Illness to Public Wellbeing. Journal of Social Policy, 51(3), 1-15.
    DOI WoS2
    2021 Foley, K., Freeman, T., Ward, P., Lawler, A., Osborne, R., & Fisher, M. (2021). Exploring access to, use of and benefits from population-oriented digital health services in Australia. Health Promotion International, 36(4), 1105-1115.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS15 Europe PMC12
    2021 Shakespeare, M., Fisher, M., Mackean, T., & Wilson, R. (2021). Theories of Indigenous and non-Indigenous wellbeing in Australian health policies. Health Promotion International, 36(3), 669-679.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS5 Europe PMC3
    2021 McGreevy, D. M., MacDougall, C., Fisher, M., Henley, M., & Baum, F. (2021). Expediting a renewable energy transition in a privatised market via public policy: The case of south Australia 2004-18. Energy Policy, 148, 14 pages.
    DOI Scopus13 WoS15
    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 Scopus7 WoS4
    2021 Van Eyk, H., Baum, F., Fisher, M., Macdougall, C., & Lawless, A. (2021). To what extent does early childhood education policy in Australia recognise and propose action on the social determinants of health and health equity?. Journal of Social Policy, 1-25.
    DOI
    2021 Anaf, J., Fisher, I., Handsley, E., Baum, F., & Friel, S. (2021). 'Sweet talk': Framing the merits of a sugar tax in Australia. Health Promotion International, 36(5), 1334-1345.
    DOI Scopus2 Europe PMC2
    2020 Baum, F., Townsend, B., Fisher, M., Browne-Yung, K., Freeman, T., Ziersch, A., . . . Friel, S. (2020). Creating Political Will for Action on Health Equity: Practical Lessons for Public Health Policy Actors. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT, 11(7), 14 pages.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS11 Europe PMC7
    2020 Fisher, I. M., Freeman, T., Mackean, T., Friel, S., & Baum, F. (2020). Universal Health Coverage for Non-communicable Diseases and Health Equity: Lessons From Australian Primary Healthcare. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT, 11(5), 11 pages.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS12 Europe PMC13
    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), 27 pages.
    DOI Scopus17
    2019 Delany-Crowe, T., Marinova, D., Fisher, I. M., McGreevy, M., & Baum, F. (2019). Australian policies on water management and climate change: Are they supporting the sustainable development goals and improved health and well-being?. Globalization and Health, 15(1), 15 pages.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC1
    2019 Anaf, J., Baum, F., Fisher, M., & London, L. (2019). The health impacts of extractive industry transnational corporations: A study of Rio Tinto in Australia and Southern Africa. Globalization and Health, 15(1), 20 pages.
    DOI Scopus17 WoS15 Europe PMC9
    2019 Fisher, I. (2019). A theory of public wellbeing. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 12 pages.
    DOI Scopus20 WoS18 Europe PMC9
    2019 Fisher, M., Battams, S., McDermott, D., Baum, F., & MacDougall, C. (2019). How the Social Determinants of Indigenous Health became Policy Reality for Australia's National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan. Journal of Social Policy, 48(1), 169-189.
    DOI Scopus12 WoS10
    2019 Freeman, T., Fisher, M., Baum, F., & Friel, S. (2019). Healthy infrastructure: Australian National Broadband Network policy implementation and its importance to health equity. Information Communication and Society, 22(10), 1414-1431.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS10
    2018 Windle, A., Fisher, I., Freeman, T., Baum, F., Javanparast, S., Kay, A., & Kidd, M. (2018). Increased private health fund involvement in Australia's primary health care: Implications for health equity. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 338-354.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS5
    2018 Schram, A., Friel, S., Freeman, T., Fisher, M., Baum, F., & Harris, P. (2018). Digital Infrastructure as a Determinant of Health Equity: An Australian Case Study of the Implementation of the National Broadband Network. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 77(4), 829-842.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS12
    2018 Lee, J., Schram, A., Riley, E., Harris, P., Baum, F., Fisher, I. M., . . . Friel, S. (2018). Addressing health equity through action on the social determinants of health: A global review of policy outcome evaluation methods. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 7(7), 581-592.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS12 Europe PMC9
    2018 Anaf, J., Baum, F., & Fisher, I. M. (2018). A citizens’ jury on regulation of McDonald's products and operations in Australia in response to a corporate health impact assessment. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 42(2), 133-139.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC3
    2018 Baum, F., Graycar, A., Delany-Crowe, T., de Leeuw, E., Bacchi, C., Popay, J., . . . Fitzgerald, J. (2018). Understanding Australian policies on public health using social and political science theories: reflections from an Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Workshop. Health Promotion International, 34(4), 833-846.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS11 Europe PMC5
    2018 Smith, J., Griffiths, K., Judd, J., Crawford, G., D'Antoine, H., Fisher, M., . . . Harris, P. (2018). Ten years on from the World Health Organization Commission of Social Determinants of Health: Progress or procrastination?. Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals, 29(1), 3-7.
    DOI Scopus22 WoS18 Europe PMC7
    2017 Fisher, I. M., Baum, F., Kay, A., & Friel, S. (2017). Are changes in Australian national primary healthcare policy likely to promote or impede equity of access? A narrative review. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 23(3), 209-215.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS12 Europe PMC5
    2017 Fisher, M., Baum, F. E., MacDougall, C., Newman, L., McDermott, D., & Phillips, C. (2017). Intersectoral action on SDH and equity in Australian health policy. Health Promotion International, 32(6), 953-963.
    DOI Scopus24 WoS20 Europe PMC12
    2017 Anaf, J., Baum, F. E., Fisher, M., Harris, E., & Friel, S. (2017). Assessing the health impact of transnational corporations: A case study on McDonald's Australia. Globalization and Health, 13(1), 16 pages.
    DOI Scopus30 WoS27 Europe PMC13
    2016 Baum, F. E., Sanders, D. M., Fisher, M., Anaf, J., Freudenberg, N., Friel, S., . . . Sen, A. (2016). Assessing the health impact of transnational corporations: Its importance and a framework. Globalization and Health, 12(1), 7 pages.
    DOI Scopus46 WoS50 Europe PMC27
    2016 Fisher, M., Baum, F. E., MacDougall, C., Newman, L., & Mcdermott, D. (2016). To what extent do Australian health policy documents address social determinants of health and health equity?. Journal of Social Policy, 45(3), 545-564.
    DOI Scopus43 WoS36
    2016 Phillips, C., Fisher, M., Baum, F., MacDougall, C., Newman, L., & McDermott, D. (2016). To what extent do Australian child and youth health policies address the social determinants of health and health equity?: A document analysis study. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 12 pages.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS19 Europe PMC10
    2016 Fisher, M., Milos, D., Baum, F., & Friel, S. (2016). Social determinants in an Australian urban region: A 'complexity' lens. Health Promotion International, 31(1), 163-174.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS10 Europe PMC6
    2015 Fisher, M., Baum, F., MacDougall, C., Newman, L., & McDermott, D. (2015). A qualitative methodological framework to assess uptake of evidence on social determinants of health in health policy. Evidence and Policy, 11(4), 491-507.
    DOI Scopus17 WoS17
    2014 Baum, F. E., Laris, P., Fisher, M., Newman, L. A., & MacDougall, C. (2014). Dear health minister: Tend the garden but make sure you fence the crocodiles. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 68(4), 295-296.
    DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC1
    2014 Baum, F., & Fisher, M. (2014). Why behavioural health promotion endures despite its failure to reduce health inequities. Sociology of Health and Illness, 36(2), 213-225.
    DOI Scopus255 WoS230 Europe PMC109
    2013 Baum, F., Fisher, M., Trewin, D., & Duvnjak, A. (2013). Funding the 'H' in NHMRC. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 37(6), 503-505.
    DOI Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC2
    2013 Baum, F. E., Laris, P., Fisher, M., Newman, L., & MacDougall, C. (2013). "Never mind the logic, give me the numbers": Former Australian health ministers' perspectives on the social determinants of health. Social Science and Medicine, 87, 138-146.
    DOI Scopus64 WoS57 Europe PMC36
    2011 Baum, F., & Fisher, M. (2011). Are the national preventive health initiatives likely to reduce health inequities?. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 17(4), 320-326.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS14 Europe PMC10
    2010 Fisher, M., & Baum, F. (2010). The social determinants of mental health: Implications for research and health promotion. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 44(12), 1057-1063.
    DOI Scopus96 WoS94 Europe PMC52
    2010 Baum, F., & Fisher, M. (2010). Health equity and sustainability: Extending the work of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. Critical Public Health, 20(3), 311-322.
    DOI Scopus12 WoS9
  • Book Chapters

    Year Citation
    2020 Fisher, M., Scanlon, C., Deojee, B., Hutton, V., & Sisko, S. (2020). Classism. In Multicultural Responsiveness in Counselling and Psychology: Working with Australian Populations (pp. 103-123). Springer International Publishing.
    DOI
    2014 Baum, F., & Fisher, M. (2014). Why Behavioural Health Promotion Endures Despite Its Failure to Reduce Health Inequities. In From Health Behaviours to Health Practices: Critical Perspectives (pp. 57-68). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    DOI Scopus3
  • Conference Papers

    Year Citation
    2020 Baum, F., Townsend, B., Fisher, M., Freeman, T., Harris, P., Browne-Yung, K., & Friel, S. (2020). Gaining political will for actions to achieve health equity: lessons from Australia for advocates. In EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Vol. 30 (pp. 1 page). OXFORD UNIV PRESS.
    2019 MacDougall, C., Delany-Crowe, T., Baum, F., Fisher, M., & McGreevy, M. (2019). Energy policy as a social determinant of Australian health equity. In EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Vol. 29 (pp. 2 pages). OXFORD UNIV PRESS.
    DOI
  • Conference Items

  • Consulting/Advisories

    Date Institution Department Organisation Type Country
    2023 - ongoing University of Adelaide Stretton Health Equity Advocacy Australia
  • Review, Assessment, Editorial and Advice

    Date Title Type Institution Country
    2010 - ongoing Peer review of journal articles in my field Peer Review University of Adelaide Australia
  • Position: Senior Research Fellow
  • Phone: 83130037
  • Email: matt.fisher@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Napier, floor First Floor
  • Room: 125
  • Org Unit: Stretton Institute

Connect With Me
External Profiles