Researcher Profile

Dr Jen Couch

Faculty of Education and Arts, National School of Arts and Humanities

Areas of expertise: Youth work practice; young people's safety and wellbeing; disability and inclusion; refugee young people; youth homelessness; social justice and marginalisation.

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: Full

Phone: +61 3 9953 3560

Email: [email protected]

Location: ACU Melbourne Campus

I am a Senior Lecturer in Youth Work and International Development at Australian Catholic University (ACU), where I have worked since 2005. My academic career builds on a professional background in youth work and international community development, with a particular focus on working alongside young people and communities experiencing disadvantage, displacement and marginalisation.

My research focuses on youth work practice and the lived experiences of young people navigating complex social, cultural and structural inequalities. I have researched issues relating to young people's safety and wellbeing, disability, refugee experiences, homelessness and social exclusion. Across this work, I am interested in how young people experience and navigate the systems and structures that shape their lives, as well as how youth workers and community organisations respond to their needs, rights and aspirations.

I am committed to research that centres young people's voices and lived experiences, examines the role of youth work in addressing inequality, and contributes to meaningful improvements in practice, policy and service delivery. My work is informed by a strong commitment to social justice, inclusion and the importance of relationships in supporting young people's participation, agency and wellbeing.

I have extensive experience in qualitative and ethnographic research, including interviews, focus groups, photography and fieldwork with diverse communities in Australia and internationally. My research brings together academic inquiry and practice-based knowledge, recognising the importance of understanding young people's experiences within their broader social, cultural and institutional contexts.

Alongside my research, I am committed to youth work education and strengthening connections between universities, community organisations and the communities with which they work. I welcome opportunities to supervise Higher Degree Research students interested in youth work practice, young people's safety and wellbeing, disability, refugee and migrant experiences, homelessness, social inclusion and qualitative research.

Select publications

• Couch, J., Moore, T. & Saunders, V. (2026). From Deficit to Dignity? Young People with Disabilities Negotiating Ableism, Emotional Labour and Resistance. Youth & Policy.

• Sebastian Trew, Jen Couch, Jillian Cox, Vivien Cinque, "“We Were Already in Lockdown”: Exploring the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Australia—Mental Health, Social Isolation, Abandonment, and Financial Precarity", Health & Social Care in the Community, vol. 2023

• Couch, J., Liddy, N. & Mcdougall, J. (2021) “Our voices aren’t in lockdown” – refugee young people, challenges, and innovation during COVID 19", Journal of Applied Youth Studies.

• Couch, J. (2021) ' We were already strong' - young refugees, challenges and participation during COVID 19', Journal of Social Inclusion, 12 (1).

• Adonis, D.L. and Couch, J., 2018. Ili-based Community Organising: An Igorot Indigenous Peoples’ Concept for Grassroots Collaboration. Journal of Social Inclusion, 9(1), pp.58–70. DOI: doi:10.36251/josi.131

• Couch, J. (2019) Together we Walk: The importance of Relationship in working with refugee young people, in The Sage Handbook of Youth Work Practice

• Durant, B. Couch, J. (2019) Its just more, you know, natural: the perceptions of men who buy sex in an emerging street sex market , in SEXUALITIES. 22(3)

• Adonis, D. & Couch, J. (2017) The trails to get there: Experiences of attaining higher education for Igorot Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines, in Australian Journal of Adult Learning 57, (2)

• Couch, J. (2017) On the borders of Pedagogy: Implementing a critical pedagogy for students on the Thai Burma Border, in Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 57(1)

• Couch, J. (2017) 'Neither here nor there': Refugee young people and homelessness in Australia, in Children and Youth services Review, Vol 74.

• Couch, J. (2017) We are what we teach: Teaching Youth Work on the Thai Burma Border. , in Journal of Applied Youth Studies, v.2, n.1

• Couch, J. (2017) Do Immersion Tours have long-term transformative impacts on students? A study of Australian university students in a Tibetan host community in India, in Journal of Applied Youth Studies, v.2.n.2

International journal review panel

• Journal of Youth Studies

• International Journal of Migration and Integration

• Journal of Social Inclusion

Public engagement

• 'Teachers can offer a safe space for students to talk about the war in Ukraine and help them take action,'The Conversation, 7 March 2022.

• 'Responding to needs of the disadvantaged in lockdown,'CathNews, 5 July 2021.

• 'How cultural blindspots and a lack of diversity undermined pandemic response,'Crikey, 26 June 2020.

• '"We all slept in the car, five of us". Young refugees talk about being homeless in Australia,'The Conversation, 21 August 2019.