Adjunct Professor Eric Sidoti
Vice-Chancellor's Fellow
Eric Sidoti is Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow and Adjunct Professor. His interest is in public policy driven by engaged research focusing on democracy, human rights and civil society with an emphasis on policy development in parliamentary democracy and democratic institutions.
Eric has held senior leadership positions and advisory roles in a number of organisations with strong public policy research and advocacy credentials. Most recently he has been the inaugural Executive Director of the Public Interest Journalism Initiative [PIJI]. Prior to this he was Director of the Whitlam Institute [2007-2017] within Western Sydney University.
He was appointed as Amnesty International Australia’s first National Administrator in 1981. He operated a consultancy, Strategic Communications (1992-2007), which centred on long-term advisory roles with a small number of organisations: primarily the Dusseldorp Skills Forum and the Enterprise and Career Education Foundation but also with Australian Red Cross and JobFutures. He has held senior appointments with Amnesty International (in Australia and at its London HQ), the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and the small NGO the Human Rights Council of Australia.
He continues to be engaged with a range of organisations to assist in advocacy and strategic planning including Ticket to Work and the Justice Reform Initiative.
He has served on various Boards (Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Amnesty International Australia among them). He is currently a member of the Board of the Elizabeth Evatt Community Legal Centre.
Qualifications
- Diploma in Education, 1979, University of Sydney
- Graduate Diploma in Communications, 1979, New South Wales Institute of Technology (now known as University of Technology Sydney)
- BA, 1977, University of Sydney
Selected Publications
Sidoti, E 2015, ‘A reason to believe: young Australians and a 21st social democracy’, in Under the pump: pressures on young Australians, John Cain Foundation, Melbourne.
Arvanitakis, J & Sidoti, E 2011, ‘The politics of change: where to for young people and politics’, in L Walsh & R Black (eds), In their own hands: can young people change Australia?, Australian Council for Educational Research, Camberwell, pp. 11-19.
Sidoti, E (ed.) 2009-2017, Perspectives: essays on contemporary public policy, vol. 1-18.
Sidoti, E, Banks, R, Darcy, M, O’Shea, P, Leonard, R, Atie, R, ... & Moor, D 2009, A question of balance: principles, contracts and the government-not for profit relationship, Sydney: Public Interest Advocacy Centre, The Whitlam Institute, and the Social Justice and Social Change Research Institute, University of Western Sydney, Sydney.
Cole, P & Sidoti, E 2008, ‘New work for networks’, Beyond the classroom: building new school networks, p. 91.
Sidoti, E 2006,‘The landmines campaign: a lesson in advocacy for our times’, in P Pak Poy (ed.), Apath is made for walking: reflections on the Australian Network to Ban Landmines 1991-2006, David Lovell Publications, Melbourne, pp. 102-115.
Sidoti, E 2004, ‘Youth and the budget’ [online], Impact, Winter, 6-7.
Sidoti, E, and van Beek, H 2004, Green Corps and the ALP’s Youth Guarantee: a consideration of the existing fit and the potential for further development, Job Futures, Sydney.
Sidoti, E and Frankovits, A 1995, The rights way to development: a human rights approach to development assistance, Human Rights Council of Australia Incorporated, Sydney.