ProfessorAmy Conley Wright

Dr Amy Conley Wright, MSW, PhD, is Professor of Child and Family Social Work at the University of Sydney, researching in the areas of disability, family support, advocacy, out-of-home care and permanency including open adoption. Her research is multi-disciplinary and has involved cross-university and cross-national collaboration with colleagues in social work, law, economics, early childhood, sociology, public health, nursing, education and psychology. These projects use a range of methods, including surveys, case file review, interviews and focus groups, linked administrative data analysis and systematic review. Her research, commissioned program evaluations and evidence reviews have attracted millions of dollars in funding from diverse sources including the New South Wales Government, Australian Research Council, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Australian Public Policy Institute. She has published 4 books, including Six Steps to Successful Child Advocacy: Changing the World for Children, Nonprofits in Policy Advocacy: Their Strategies and Stories and more than 100 journal articles, book chapters, policy submissions and reports. She has served on many advisory groups, including for Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2021-2031 and is former associate editor for the journal Child & Family Social Work. Through her collaborative research, Amy is committed to advancing inclusion and improving outcomes for children, families and diverse communities by building evidence to inform public policy and social services. Amy previously held positions as assistant professor of child and adolescent development at San Francisco State University, senior lecturer in social work at University of Wollongong, policy and advocacy manager at Inclusion Australia, and director of Romanian Children’s Relief, where she developed and implemented a program supporting children’s healthy development in orphanage settings and transition to foster care that was recognised as a best practice by the Romanian government. She holds a PhD and Masters of Social Welfare from UC Berkeley and a Bachelors in Child Development & Public Policy from Boston University.