Vale Siobhan O’Sullivan

It is with great sadness that we pass on to IRSPM members and friends the passing of Associate Professor Siobhan O’Sullivan on 17^th June, 2023. Siobhan will be known to many in the IRSPM community for her bubbly personality, excellent research on welfare systems, and tireless advocacy for those who are disadvantaged in different ways.  Her passion and service were exemplary and she paved the way for new researchers in public management, political science, and animal welfare studies. She worked at the University of Melbourne and the University of New South Wales, both in Australia and was heavily involved in advocacy work across her multiple interests.

Siobhan became an ambassador for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation - she features on their home page here:

She was also an advocate for voluntary assisted dying in her home state of New South Wales.

Siobhan will be remembered for her wonderful sense of humour and her enthusiasm as the communications person on the IRSPM board in 2019-2020, as well as being a regular IRSPM conference presenter on welfare reform. We are sure she will be sadly missed by her many colleagues and friends in Australia and all around the world.

We are devastated, but also feel fortunate to have had her as a long term research collaborator, to have benefited from her keen intellect, and to have been touched by her bright personality and positive outlook.

 

In loving memory - Jenny M Lewis, Mark Considine, Michael McGann, Phuc Nguyen and Sarah Ball.