Understanding Diaspora Development Lessons from Australia and the Pacific

Melissa Phillips  is a lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University, Australia. Her research focuses on migration, diaspora, migrant and refugee settlement, and multiculturalism. Melissa has a background in working for international NGOs in East Africa and the Middle East/North Africa on migration programs.

Louise Olliff  works as a senior policy advisor for the Refugee Council of Australia and is an adjunct fellow with Western Sydney University’s Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI). Her research and work in policy advocacy focuses on how the knowledge and networks borne of lived experience of forced displacement can be drivers of transformative change.