Researcher

Areas of expertise: inclusion and belonging; inclusive research; lived and living experience collaboration; disability studies

Location: ACU Strathfield Campus

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: HDR Supervisor (Provisional)

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7904-473X

ORCID link: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7904-473X

Dr Benjamin Garcia-Lee is a Lecturer in Social Work (Teaching and Research) at Australian Catholic University. His research sits at the intersection of social work and critical disability studies, with a focus on inclusive research, co-production, belonging, and the experiences of people with intellectual disability.

Benjamin completed his PhD at UNSW's School of Social Science in February 2026. His doctoral research examined belonging in the lives of people labelled as having intellectual disability and was supervised by Dr Maree Higgins, Professor Emerita Leanne Dowse, and Professor Jan Walmsley. Through this work, he developed the Collaborative Research Praxis model, a framework for co-produced disability research that is now being extended across multiple funded projects.

Benjamin's research centres on inclusive methods and empirical, community-based inquiry with people with intellectual disability. His work spans belonging, trauma, stigma, and relationship-based support. He is Chief Investigator on the Collaborative Research Praxis study, funded by a TASA Early Career Researcher Grant, and on Professional Friends, a collaborative inquiry into relationship-based support and belonging funded by a Dr Jennifer Fitzgerald Research Grant. He is also a Co-Investigator on a Queensland Mental Health Commission project examining the post-carceral experiences of women with alcohol and other drug issues.

Benjamin has contributed to national ethics and co-production guidance adopted across the Australian disability research sector through his work with UNSW's Disability Innovation Institute. His publications include a systematic review in the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, along with major program evaluation and guidance reports.

Benjamin is an Associate of the Disability Innovation Institute and the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW. He holds active memberships with the Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability and The Australian Sociological Association.

He welcomes enquiries from Honours and HDR students interested in inclusive research, critical disability studies, relational sociology, and co-produced approaches to social work and disability research.