Justice Medal winner and social justice champion Professor Eileen Baldry has been appointed UNSW’s first Deputy Vice-Chancellor Inclusion and Diversity.
NSW Justice Medal winner and social justice champion Professor Eileen Baldry has been appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor Inclusion and Diversity, becoming UNSW’s first female DVC.
Currently UNSW’s Academic Lead for Equity and Diversity and a member of the University’s Management Board, Professor Baldry brings an exceptional depth of skill and experience to the landmark appointment, which is effective immediately.
Professor Baldry is an expert in equity issues and is one of the country’s leading academics in the field of Criminology. She was awarded the prestigious NSW Justice Medal in 2009 for her “indefatigable” support for justice-related causes. She was named as one of NSW’s 100 most influential people by Sydney Magazine in 2011 and in 2016 was named in the AFR/Westpac 100 most influential women in Australia.
A long-time UNSW staff member, Professor Baldry has held numerous leadership positions within the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, including as Head of School of Social Sciences, and as Associate Dean Education, Deputy Dean and Acting/Interim Dean.
In 2015, she was named by UNSW as one of its 15 Women Changing our World.
A recognised authority in her field, Professor Baldry is regularly asked to chair government committees and working groups, and to appear as a witness in commission and government inquiries in relation to social justice issues. Most recently, she was called to give evidence to the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory in Darwin and has been retained by the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse.
UNSW President and Vice-Chancellor Ian Jacobs congratulated Professor Baldry on her new role.
“Eileen is superbly well qualified for this role and has successfully led the initial developments in this area as Academic Lead for Equity and Diversity,” Professor Jacobs said.
“This is a landmark appointment for UNSW and reflects the importance of the social justice, equity, and diversity plans in our 2025 Strategy.
“We have set ambitious objectives in relation to gender equity at all staff grades, ensuring an inclusive environment for staff and students with disability, achieving equity in student enrolments, providing a flexible inclusive workplace, ensuring that our campuses are safe for all staff and students, and maintaining a culturally rich and diverse inclusive university. My thanks to Eileen for taking on a key role.”
Professor Baldry said she was excited to take up the position.
“This is an historic moment for UNSW Sydney. There has not been a point, until now, in the University's history, at which equity, diversity and inclusion goals were recognised and celebrated with the intention of embedding them as key values, targets and requirements across the University,” she said.
Professor Baldry said her first priority would be to work with all staff to achieve the 2025 Strategy targets around gender equity.
“We need cultural change across the University that will require inspirational and inclusive leadership and support from staff and students,” she said.
Professor Baldry said important strides had already been made toward these goals, including the drafting of a Disability Inclusion Action Plan and an Equity Diversity and Inclusion Policy, the completion of a Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment audit, the development and implementation of sexual misconduct training for staff and students, the appointment of University Diversity Champions, and the introduction of unconscious bias training.