Patrick O'Leary National Men's Health Gathering 2025

Patrick O'Leary

Professor Patrick O’Leary is an internationally recognised researcher on social work, gender-based violence and child protection having worked in numerous international universities as well as conducting complex research projects in over a dozen countries. He has served in numerous executive leadership positions including Head of School of Social Work and Human Services. Professor O’Leary is currently a Chief Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women where he leads a work stream on perpetrators and bystanders. He is also Co-Director of the Disrupting Violence Beacon at Griffith University. He is the Co-Chief Editor of International Social Work e a Q1 journal. Over the last 30 years Professor O’Leary has being doing research on domestic violence with a focus on men who use violence and community/integrated responses to domestic violence. He has conducted research on violence against children as well the role of bystanders in community responses to gendered violence . Throughout this time, he has conducted research and work with survivors of child sexual abuse with particular interest on male survivors and a focus on disclosure and life course effects. Internationally Professor O’Leary has worked with UNICEF, Terre des hommes, ECPAT International, and Islamic Relief Worldwide. He was commissioned as an Expert Academic Advisor to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and was a member of the Queensland Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce, which recommended substantial reforms, including coercive control legislation. Professor O’Leary serves on numerous boards and advisory positions in the government and non-government sectors including being on the Advisory Group for National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse for the Australian Government, non-executive Director of DVConnect, and member of the Practice Advisory Committee for Survivors and Mates Support Network.