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Dr Adelle Liebenberg

Lecturer

Staff Member Details
Telephone: +61 8 6304 5515
Email: a.liebenberg@ecu.edu.au
Campus: Joondalup  
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0467-9412

Dr Adèlle Liebenberg is a Certified Occupational Hygienist (COH) and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists with more than 20 years’ experience spanning industry and academia. She is Course Coordinator for the postgraduate Occupational Hygiene and Toxicology programmes at Edith Cowan University (ECU), where she leads curriculum innovation, lectures in occupational health, and supervises higher degree research students.

Her research focuses on occupational hygiene epidemiology and health metrics, including the development of exposure metrics, leading and lagging indicators, and longitudinal health surveillance. Current projects include firefighter health, prevention of noise-induced hearing loss, and climate-related occupational hazards.

Dr Liebenberg’s work bridges occupational hygiene and public health, aiming to integrate workplace health into national health systems and develop data-driven strategies for preventive risk management in high-risk industries. She collaborates nationally and internationally with government, industry, and academic partners, and continues to undertake consulting to ensure her research and teaching remain grounded in practice.

Awards & Recognition

  • Injury Prevention & Safety Promotion Award – Outstanding Achievement in Influencing Injury Policy or Research (2025)
  • Aurora Women in Leadership Program (2024)
  • Higher Education Advanced Leadership Program Scholarship – Women & Leadership Australia (2017)
  • Faculty WHS Excellence Award – University of Newcastle (2016)

Professional Leadership

  • Chair, AIOH Certification Board (2021 – present)
  • Member, Certification Board (2019 - present)
  • Member, AIOH Professional Development & Education Committee (2018 – present)
  • Mentor, AIOH (2016 – present)

Research Areas

  • Occupational exposure science and epidemiology
  • Firefighter health and safety
  • Noise-induced hearing loss prevention
  • Health metrics – leading and lagging indicators
  • Preventive risk management in workplace health

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Edith Cowan University, 2023.
  • Public Health & OHS, Edith Cowan University, 2021.
  • Master of Science Physiology, South Africa, 2006.
  • Bachelor of Science (Honours)(Physiology), South Africa, 2004.

Research Outputs

2025

Journal Articles

  • Oosthuizen, M., Staples, K., Liebenberg, A., Padamsey, K., Cattani, M., McCarthy, A., Oosthuizen, J. (2025). Welding Fume in the Western Australian Mining Industry: Impact of a Change to the Workplace Exposure Standard.. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(8), Article number 1238. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22081238.
  • Padamsey, K., Liebenberg, A., Wallace, R., Oosthuizen, J. (2025). Exposures of Western Australian Wildland Firefighters: Insights from Real-Time Monitoring. Fire, 8(3), Article number 98. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8030098.

2024

Book Chapters

  • Apthorpe, L., Liebenberg, A., Firth, I., Reed, S. (2024). Chapter 18: Additional occupational hygiene tools and sources. Principles of Occupational Health and Hygiene: An Introduction (). Taylor & Francis Ltd | CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781032645841.

Journal Articles

  • Padamsey, K., Liebenberg, A., Wallace, R., Oosthuizen, J. (2024). Preliminary Assessment of Tunic Off-Gassing after Wildland Firefighting Exposure. Fire, 7(9), Article number 321. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7090321.
  • Padamsey, K., Wallace, R., Liebenberg, A., Cross, M., Oosthuizen, J. (2024). Fighting fire and fumes: risk awareness and protective practices among Western Australian firefighters. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 33(4), Article number WF23147. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF23147.
  • Padamsey, K., Liebenberg, A., Wallace, R., Oosthuizen, J. (2024). Characterising the Chemical Composition of Bushfire Smoke and Implications for Firefighter Exposure in Western Australia. Fire, 7(11), Article number 388. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7110388.

2023

Journal Articles

  • Liebenberg, A., Gardner, M., Nie, VM., James, CL., Reed, S. (2023). A Scoping Review: Identifying Targeted Intervention Strategies for Workers with Occupational Hearing Loss. Acoustics Australia, 51(3), 407-417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40857-023-00302-y.
  • Liebenberg, A., Nie, V., Brichta, A., Ahmadi, S., James, C. (2023). Pre-employment hearing threshold levels of 59,601 Australian male coal miners compared to an otologically normal international male population (ISO7029:2019). International Journal of Audiology, 62(8), 729-737. https://doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2022.2088625.

Conference Publications

  • Liebenberg, A., Oosthuizen, J., Reed, S. (2023). Development of Occupational Hearing Loss: A Review of Identification and Management. Occupational Hearing Loss in Australian Mining: Prevalence, Management and Prevention (10 pages). AIOH.

2021

Journal Articles

  • Liebenberg, A., Brichta, A., Nie, V., Ahmadi, S., James, C. (2021). Hearing threshold levels of Australian coal mine workers: a retrospective cross-sectional study of 64196 audiograms. International Journal of Audiology, 60(10), 808-819. https://doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2021.1884908.

Research Projects

  • MARS: The Barometer in Australian Mining: Developing an integrated approach to monitoring incident and injury risk, DMIRS: Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety - MARS, MARS - Grant, 2024 ‑ 2026, $176,471.
  • MARS: Developing research questions for the future; Health and exposure metrics as an indicator of workplace health in Western Australia., DMIRS: Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety - MARS, MARS - Grant, 2024 ‑ 2026, $107,603.
  • DFES Undergarment Contamination and Laundering Proposal , Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Tender, 2023 ‑ 2025, $36,294.

Research Student Supervision

Current Supervisions

Principal Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Development implementation and evaluation of an integrated university occupational hygiene and health monitoring program

Associate Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Digging Deeper: Are we underestimation asbestos risks in Western Australian mining operations?

Completed Supervisions

Co-principal Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Workplace exposures of wildland firefighters in Western Australia - novel insights and real-world impact
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