Dr Meredith Martin

Meredith has over 20 years’ experience working at the intersection of higher education, the creative industries and the public sector as a researcher, senior manager and strategic advisor. Throughout her career she has maintained a strong interest in the social impacts of cultural and public engagement, with a focus on accessibility, social inclusion and gender parity. She is the Founding Director of the Pathways to Politics Program for Women which she established at the University of Melbourne with Carol Schwartz AO in 2015, to redress the underrepresentation of women in Australian parliaments. Meredith completed a PhD in museum studies in 2009, has published and presented widely on culture-led regeneration, collaborating on numerous projects with Nikos Papastergiadis and Scott McQuire from the Research Unit in Public Cultures. She is a member of the Board of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria and co-chairs the PGAV’s Research and Advocacy Committee. She is Fellow of the Centre of Visual Art and a member of the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation Advisory Committee at the University of Melbourne. From 2020—2023 she was Chair of the feminist experimental arts organisation APHIDS and remains a member of the Board. She was previously the Associate Director Cultural and Public Engagement at the University of Melbourne, where she led whole-of-University partnerships with major cultural organisations and peak bodies.