Associate Professor Julie King is a critical medical anthropologist who has been a social work educator for the past 17 years. She also has a background in nursing and international health and development. Julie was a hospital trained registered nurse, who held senior positions in the sector. After leaving nursing she obtained a Bachelor degree in Asian Studies and Anthropology (UniSQ), a Master of Public Health (Tropical Health)(UQ) for which she was awarded the Australasian Medal of Tropical Medicine for academic excellence, and a PhD (QUT). Julie is passionate and committed to human rights and social justice having worked with Amnesty International in senior positions, organising human rights campaigns and conducting advocacy. This commitment to social justice flows through both her teaching and her research.

Much of her work is guided by a Foucauldian approach that acknowledges the complexity of power and oppression but also the creative nature of resistance. This critical approach guides her academic work. Julie is an experienced qualitative researcher with a track record in research around gender, disability, social inclusion, climate change and inclusive disaster management, and refugee and asylum seekers. Her research has been conducted both in Australia and overseas including Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Pacific. She is also an experienced HDR supervisor with 10 completions. She supervises both international and domestic students.

Putting her research into practice, Julie is an experienced gender equity, disability and social inclusion specialist. She has designed, led and contributed to more than 40 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) consultancies in the Pacific, Africa, Southeast Asia and South Asia. These consultancies have included evaluations, training manuals and training workshops. She also led the development of a journey access tool (JAT) in collaboration with Humanity and Inclusion (HI) and people with disability in Cambodia. The tool combines disability access and road safety principles, taking a whole of journey approach in evaluating access to the built environment and public transport for people with disability.

Currently Julie holds the positions of Program Director Social Work Honours (inclusive of the MSW(Q) pathway), Associate Head of School Research and Program Director Human Services.

Julie is also an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Centre for Justice at QUT.