Prof Rachael Field

Research interests

My research interest in dispute resolution began in my early days in legal practice as a family lawyer in the 1990s. I completed a Masters by Research comparing the efficacy of litigation and mediation processes in family law matters and concluded that because dispute resolution offers positive and important alternatives to litigation, I wanted this to be an area of expertise and scholarly pursuit for me.

In 1993 as a volunteer with Women's Legal Service I became increasingly committed to advocating for access to justice for vulnerable women and their children - particularly those in circumstances of domestic and family violence. My PhD thesis on mediation ethics brought these issues together. In my thesis I offered a new paradigm for ethical mediator practice and conduct, one that I believe deals more effectively with issues of power in mediation contexts.

My research interest in legal education began when I completed the Graduate Certificate in Education (Higher Education) at QUT in 2001. I observed teaching excellence being modelled by my lecturers and continued to be mentored by some of those professors after completing the degree.

I have published widely in my areas of research interest which include dispute resolution, women and the law and family law, the first year experience, legal education, and student success and well-being.

My research portfolio of publications is regularly cited and my work in the areas of mediation and domestic violence, legal education and law student success and well-being has had significant national impact and also some international level influence.

My research and scholarship in the areas of legal education and student success and well-being has had significant impact at a national level and is also beginning to have impact at an international level.

My body of research work contributed to my being named 2013 Queensland Woman of the Year.