Laura Vidal

Laura is a committed social work practitioner focused in the areas of social policy, research and program development. Having begun her career in direct social work practice before turning to look at the impact of systems on everyday safety and wellbeing, Laura privileges lived experience and understands deeply the way services and systems operate at a grass-roots level. Laura brings over a decade of experience to the way in which she analyses social policy, engages in qualitative research, strategies for change and supports individuals and organisations in the pursuit of their goals.

Laura is a practical and strategic thinker with experience as a social work practitioner, trainer, program strategist, researcher and policy advocate. Laura currently offers these services as an independent consultant. She also holds the position of Lecturer (Social Work) at the University of Canberra.

Laura’s subject matter expertise sits with diverse experiences of violence: including, gender-based violence, human trafficking, modern slavery, forced marriage and family violence. In particular, Laura spent over 10 years supporting and advocating for women, girls and families experiencing violence. Laura is one of Australia’s leading experts in understanding and responding to forced marriage and has completed a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship (2016) to develop innovative and best-practice solutions. Following her fellowship Laura undertook a PhD in Criminology as a Francine V McNiff Scholar at Monash University.

Laura is an accredited member of the Australian Association of Social Work holding a Bachelor of Social Work (Hons. 1), a Masters in Human Rights Law and Policy and a PhD in Criminology.