Professor Loretta Baldassar is Vice Chancellor’s Professorial Research Fellow in the School of Arts and Humanities at ECU. She is Professor of Anthropology and Sociology.
Current position
Professor Loretta Baldassar is Vice Chancellor’s Professorial Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University (ECU). She is one of Australia’s leading Social Scientists and her work is internationally recognised as foundational to the field of transnational family studies. Loretta leads the Migration, Diversity and Care Research Program in the School of Arts and Humanities, which includes the Social Ageing (SAGE) Futures Lab, the TRACS Diversity Research Network, and the Rainbow Migrants Lab (RaMiLab). This program is building research capacity in the application of social science and arts-based methodologies to medical and health sciences research. Her team is pioneering a ‘social care’ approach to ageing across the life-course, inspired by the notion of ageing futures, which highlights the social revolution needed to re-imagine our relationship to ageing.
Currently, Loretta leads a National Health Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Grant, a randomised controlled trial (RCT), Befriending with GENIE: A social technology intervention to reduce loneliness and increase social support and service access for people living with dementia and their caregivers from CaLD backgrounds. She also co-leads an Australian Research Council funded Discovery Project: Youth Futures After Mobility (YFAM) : a longitudinal study of mobile transitions which will build upon and extend the highly successful Youth Mobilities, Aspirations & Pathways (YMAP) Project.
Background
Professor Loretta Baldassar began her academic career as a Lecturer in Sociology at ECU in 1993. She moved to the Department of Anthropology at The University of Western Australia (UWA) in 1994, where she developed a migration studies program.
In 1999, Loretta co-founded the Western Australian Migration Research Network (MRN), and in 2001 she was awarded a double promotion to Associate Professor, building an international profile in transnational family studies.
From 2009 - 2011 Loretta was Professor and Director of the Monash University Centre in Italy, where she led social inclusion projects with local migrant communities. Loretta returned to UWA in 2012 as Professor and Discipline Chair of Anthropology and Sociology.
In 2011, Loretta co-led the establishment of the Migration Mobilities and Belonging (MMoB) research Network and in 2015, launched an Annual Migration Update conference, bringing together scholars, government, industry, and community representatives.
In 2017, Loretta launched an annual Research Forum on Ageing, with a focus on ageing, migration and diversity issues. In 2019 she established the Social Care and Ageing (SAGE) Living Lab building social science research capacity in the aged care sector through collaborations, evaluation and consultancies in partnership with industry and government.
Research areas and interests
Professor Baldassar has several intersecting areas of research progress and development. What connects these research areas is a focus on social care, family and community relations, culture and linguistic diversity, and the role of new technologies in supporting wellbeing.
Professor Baldassar has several intersecting areas of research focus and expertise. What connects these research areas is a focus on social care, family and community relations, culture and linguistic diversity, and the role of new technologies in supporting wellbeing.
- Transnational Families: Professor Baldassar’s work in transnational family studies is widely cited as foundational to this field of study, including, Families Caring across Borders (2007), which introduced the concept of ‘transnational caregiving’, and Transnational Families, Migration and the Circulation of Care (2014), which introduced the concept of care circulation. Her more recent work in this area includes Transnational Families in Africa (2023). She continues to supervise PhD projects in this area.
- Ageing Across the Life Course: Professor Baldassar’s current work includes a focus on dementia and migration. The MRFF RCT, Befriending with GENIE is developing asocial intervention to reduce loneliness and increase social support and service access for people living with dementia and their caregivers from CaLD backgrounds. The ARC Discovery Project Ageing and New Media (2016-2020), led by Professor Loretta Baldassar and Associate Professor Raelene Wilding (La Trobe), examines how support networks for older people are affected by their mobility and the dispersal of their family, friends and care services. The project highlights the current and potential role that new media plays in fostering local, distant and virtual support networks of older Australians. From this research, Baldassar and Wilding have introduced the notions of digital kinning anddigital homing to better understand the role of new technologies in supporting ageing, safeguarding social and cultural identity and facilitating social care. Two international postdoctoral Fellows, Dr Rosa Brandhorst (German Research Foundation) and Dr Lukasz Krzyzowski (Polish Research Foundation) were affiliated with this project, along with two PhD projects: Cheng Yen Loo (Chinese Speaking older migrants from Malaysia and Singapore) and Hien Nguyen (Vietnamese older parent migrants and visitors).
- Internationalisation at Home: Professor Baldassar has been developing student-led research and teaching opportunities in the area of Internationalisation at Home, building on her experience as the Director of the Monash University Study Abroad Centre in Italy. University international student programs are commonly understood to foster intercultural learning, transforming students into global citizens with cross-cultural competencies. Similar benefits are anticipated from Internationalisation at Home (IaH), where the presence of international students on campus enriches the lives of domestic students. However, it is often assumed that these outcomes will occur as a consequence of ‘just being there’. In practice, domestic and international students often inhabit quite separate worlds, with few opportunities for engagement. Facilitating student engagement and improving students’ experiences on campus is of growing concern across the sector, with best practice literature indicating that structured engagement activities deliver internationalisation outcomes more effectively.
- Italian migration and Disapora Studies: Professor Baldassar is also a leading scholar in Italian migration studies and has had two ARC Linkage projects in this field. Italian Lives (2004-9), which examined the settlement, integration and transnational ties of a century of Italian migration to Australia across the generations and produced a web resource; and Australian Diasporas (2008-11), which examined the economic, social and political factors that facilitate diaspora formation that have flow-on benefits for Australia.
- Youth Mobilities: Baldassar is currently co-leading an ARC funded project,Youth Futures After Mobility (YFAM): a longitudinal study of mobile transitions. This project builds upon and extends the highly successful Youth Mobilities, Aspirations & Pathways (YMAP) Project, which was led by Professor Anita Harris (Deakin), Professor Loretta Baldassar (ECU) and Associate Professor Shanthi Robertson (Western Sydney) to explore the experiences of transnational mobility amongst young people moving into and out of Australia in order to understand its real-life effects on their economic opportunities, social and family ties, citizenship and transitions to adulthood. Several PhD projects were affiliated with the Youth Mobilities Project, including Giulia Marchetti.
- Music and Arts Engagement: Professor Baldassar is a collaborator on the Good Arts Good Mental Health project led by Dr Christina Davies (UWA). This project, in collaboration with multi-sector partners, aims to create an evidence based, arts-mental health campaign, dose-response message, programs, and provide multi-sector professional development to positively impact community arts engagement and mental wellbeing
Teaching and Supervision
Professor Baldassar has supervised 7 Postdoctoral Fellows (funded by Marie Curie Fellowship; Polish Research Foundation; German Research Foundation; Australian Research Council; Forrest Foundation); 45 HDR students (6 current, 39 completions). In 2007 she was awarded a UWA Excellence in Postgraduate Supervision Award and was nominated for this award in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020.
Professional associations
- Member, International Sociological Association Migration Research Committee (RC31)
- Regional editor, Journal Global Networks
- Member, The Australian Anthropological Society
- Member, The Australian Sociological Association
- Member, Anthropological Society of WA
Awards and recognition
Baldassar is one of Australia’s leading Social Scientists and Internationally recognised leaders in migration and diversity studies. In 2020, 2021 and 2022 she was named Australian Research Field Leader in Migration Studies (Social Sciences) and in 2021 she was also named Research Field Leader in Ethnic and Cultural Studies (Humanities, Arts and Literature) (The Australian, 8 12 2021). Topping the list in both these fields is an exceptional achievement and constitutes public and academic recognition of the world class nature and relevancy of her research. Baldassar was one of only 10 UWA scholars to be named in this Award list and the only woman.
- 2025 – Elected Member of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences
- 2024 - Australian Centre for Italian Studies Legacy Award
- 2023 - Academy of Science South Africa (ASSAf) Distinguished Visiting Scholar
- 2023 - Finalist, WA Seniors Advocate of the Year, The WA Seniors Awards
- 2023 - Visiting Scholar Fellowship, University of Sheffield
- 2022 - Research Field Leader in Human Migration (Social Sciences), and in Ethnic and Cultural Studies (Humanities, Arts and Literature) (The Australian, 9 November 2022).
- 2021 - Research Field Leader in Human Migration (Social Sciences), and in Ethnic and Cultural Studies (Humanities, Arts and Literature) (The Australian, 8 December 2021).
- 2020 - Visiting Scholar Fellowship, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
- 2020 - Research Field Leader in Human Migration (The Australian, 23 September 2020).
- 2019 - Visiting Scholar, Max Planck Institute, Gottingen, Germany
- 2016 - OLT Teaching Award: Program enhancing student learning – Intercultural learning at home
- 2016 - Australian European University Institute Fellowship, Fiesole, Italy
- 2015 - Arts Teaching & Service Awards: Project enhancing learning – Internationalisation at home
- 2015 - 2017 Visiting Professorial Fellow, Trento University, Italy
- 2014 - Veneti Nel Mondo Service Award (for community engagement), Veneto Government, Italy
- 2007 - Excellence in Postgraduate Supervision Award, UWA
- 2006 - Shortlisted for NSW Regional and Community History Award for Baldassar & Pesman, From Paesani to Global Italians, UWA Press.
- 2005 - National Italian Australian Women’s Association, Community Service Award
- 2002 - NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Baldassar, L. Visits Home, Melbourne Uni Press
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Research impact
Baldassar has over 30 years of qualitative and mixed methods research expertise and has been CI on 56 projects, of which 20 as Lead CI. Her total research grant funding to date is over AUS$10 million.She has extensive experience leading research and consultancies across all categories of funding including on large international projects with UK; Canada; Italy; South Africa; China; India. Competitive grants include four Australian Research Council Discovery Projects; Australian Academy Social Sciences; Industry and Government grants include Medical Research Future Fund; Commonwealth Department of Human Services; WA Department of Health; WA Department of Communities; Healthways WA; Heart Foundation; Office of Multicultural Interests WA; Lotterywest. Philanthropic Sources: Loretta was principal coordinator of the Cassamarca Australia Project (2000), one of the largest philanthropic gifts to the Social Sciences & Humanities in Australia of approx. $28.5 million (comprising 13 academic positions in Italian studies across Australian universities).
Publications
Professor Baldassar has an outstanding publication record comprising 4 authored and 4 edited books, 11 Special Journal Issues, 74 refereed journal articles (including 4 currently in press), 48 book chapters, 11 reports and 5 Parliamentary Submissions. Of her top 100 publications, she is first author on 65 and sole author on 38. Baldassar has an excellent citation rate; H-index 50, well above average for her discipline. Total Google Scholar citations 12,063 steadily increasing; i10 index 98. In 2025 she is ranked in the top 1.360% in her subfield of Sociology.
