Meet academic and teaching staff at ACU’s Faculty of Law and Business. Explore their areas of expertise, see which staff are based at your nearest campus, and look up their directory and contact information.

Executive staff


Alison Parkes

Alison Parkes

Interim Executive Dean of Law and Business

Professor Alison Parkes is a distinguished academic leader with extensive experience in higher education and professional consultancy. Serving as Dean at RMIT University and Head of Department at La Trobe University, she has successfully developed and integrated multidisciplinary programs in Accounting, Business Analytics, and Information Systems. With a global perspective gained from working in Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia, she brings a rich understanding of diverse educational and business environments. Known for a commitment to academic excellence, Professor Parkes has designed and delivered executive education programs for international clients, including a large DFAT sponsored project working with senior government officials to co-design whole-of-government finance systems for the Ministry of Finance in Iraq. A prolific researcher and author, Professor Parkes has secured over $700,000 in competitive research grants and published numerous influential works, including a leading textbook on Accounting Information Systems. Her research publications primarily focus on the theme of reliance on technology, applying a design lens to of task-technology-individual fit. Her industry career prior to academia included Audit, Tax and Corporate Reporting roles with PWC and Rio Tinto. Over time she moved into technology focused roles culminating in an appointment as Director - Financial Systems at Queensland Rail where she was responsible for the implementation and management of SAP financials.

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3981-5528


Susan Dann

Professor Ambika Zutshi

National Head, Peter Faber Business School

Ambika is Professor and National Head of the Peter Faber Business School. She has undertaken several senior strategic leadership roles at university, faculty, and department levels at UniSQ and, previously, at Deakin University. These include Acting Associate Dean Research, Acting Associate Head Research, Acting Head of Department, Chair (and Deputy Chair) of the University Appeal Committee, Chair of the Human Ethics Advisory Group, and Chair of Academic Progress Committee.

Ambika holds a Bachelor of Environmental Sciences, Master of Environmental Management, and Doctor of Philosophy specialising in Environmental Management. Her current research is focused on corporate social responsibility, food waste/insecurity, higher education, supply chain management, and stakeholder relationships. Ambika has over 100 publications and her research has achieved significant impact nationally and internationally. She is lead CI or co-CI on funded projects with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Tata Consultancy Services, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Ambika is currently an Australasian Associate Editor of the European Business Review, editorial board member of the International Journal of Consumer Studies, and editorial advisory board member of Management of Environmental Quality. Ambika is also an active contributor to several peak bodies, including the Academy of Management, the International Association for Business and Society, and the Australia & New Zealand Academy of Management Operations Symposium.

Read Professor Ambika Zutshi's Profile


Associate Professor Kunle Ola

Interim Dean of the Thomas More Law School

Associate Professor Kunle Ola is the Interim Dean of the Thomas More Law School and the Lead Consultant, Lordrock Firm, a Migration Agency. He is a lawyer with an academic, legal, regulatory, enforcement and administrative background. He researches in the areas of Intellectual Property, Copyright Collective Administration, Open Access to knowledge, Company Law and Migration law. His works challenge institutional imbalance, develops, informs, and guides law reform, public policy and international norm setting.

Kunle holds a Law degree (LL. B) from the University of Benin, LL.M from the University of South Africa, a PhD from the Australian Catholic University, a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and a Graduate Diploma in Australian Migration Law and Practice. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and has over twenty-three years of private, public, and international experience

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Dr. Bhavani Sridharan

Associate Professor Bhavani Sridharan

Head of Learning and Teaching, Governance and Accreditation

Dr. Bhavani Sridharan has extensive transnational experience in working with many higher education business faculties, including Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), Massey University (New Zealand), Monash University and Deakin University. A former CRADLE (The Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University) scholar, Dr. Sridharan’s research interests are in assuring graduate capabilities, analytics, assessment, feedback, student engagement and retention, and quality in higher education.

Read Professor Sridharan's Profile


photo of Professor Joy Parkinson

Professor Joy Parkinson

Associate Dean (Research and Enterprise), Faculty of Law and Business

Before joining ACU in July 2023, Joy was a Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO in the Australian eHealth Research Centre and previously was Research Director of Social Marketing @ Griffith, Griffith University, the world's largest academic social marketing centre. Joy has led large industry funded research and evaluation projects with partners including Queensland Health, Diabetes Queensland, Stroke Foundation, and Western Queensland PHN. Behaviour change programs Joy has developed have directly engaged over 200, 000 participants resulting in improved health behaviours and quality of life. Joy serves as the Editor-in-Chief for Health Marketing Quarterly and has been a member of the Australian Association of Social Marketing Management Committee from 2014 serving as vice president between 2021 and 2023.

Read Professor Parkinson's Profile

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Thomas More Law School

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Our law research

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