Dr Wendy Hermeston

position: Senior Research Fellow

department: Department of General Practice and Primary Care | Melbourne Medical School

Dr Wendy Hermeston is a First Nations woman of Wiradjuri descent and Senior Research Fellow at the ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation, at the University of Melbourne Medical School, Department of General Practice, Naarm. She has a PhD in law completed in 2021, (University of Technology, Sydney), a Masters of Applied Epidemiology (Australian National University) and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology (Macquarie University). Wendy has experience in conducting legal, social science and health and wellbeing-related research. Her lived experience and extensive professional background in both Stolen Generations and care and protection-related policy and practice informed her PhD study, ‘Safe, Protected … Connected? The Best Interests of Aboriginal Children and Permanency Planning in the NSW Care and Protection System’. This research explored First Nations community member understandings of concepts central to decision making in the care jurisdiction, in particular the notions of the best interests of the child, permanency and attachment. Her most recent research, publications and conference presentations relate to the involvement of First Nations communities in care and protection systems, including an extensive research project examining the participation of First Peoples in child protection decision-making in NSW.