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Dr Melissa Curley

Senior Lecturer

School of Political Science and International Studies
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
m.curley@uq.edu.au
+61 7 334 69054

Overview

Senior Lecturer in International Relations. Her research and teaching interests include Southeast Asian politics and international relations, Cambodian politics and post-conflict reconstruction, and non-traditional security in East Asia (including trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling, pandemic disease and child protection issues). Dr. Curley co-facilitated the UQ Working Group on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling in the T.C Bernie School of Law (http://www.law.uq.edu.au/humantrafficking) from 2012-2016. She has published in internationally peer reviewed journals including: Review of International Studies, The Journal of Law and Society, Australian Journal of Human Rights, and Australian Journal of International Affairs, amongst others. Her most recent book is Migration and Security in Asia (Routledge 2008) with S.L. Wong. Before joining the School in January 2006, Dr. Curley was a researcher in the China-ASEAN project at the Centre of Asian Studies at the University of Hong Kong, where she also coordinated a consultancy project on Southeast Asian affairs for the Hong Kong Government's Central Policy Unit. She holds a Ph.D in International Relations from Nottingham Trent University in the UK, and BA(Hons) in Government from UQ.

In 2015, Dr Curley joined the Executive Advisory Board of Bravehearts, an Australian not-for profit organisation that aims to educate, empower and protect Australian children from sexual assault, and in 2016 was made a Paul Harris Fellow, in recognition of her services to The Rotary Foundation. In 2020 she gained Fellowship status with the Higher Education Academy (UK).

Research Interests

  • Non-traditional Security in the Asia Pacific
    Non-traditional security issue in International Relations are commonly understood to be transnational, multi-jurisdictional policy issues that impact multiple states and which cannot be solved via domestic (internal) policies alone, such as: trafficking in persons, migrant smuggling, public health and pandemic disease and drug and wildlife trafficking and child exploitation. My publications have appeared in a range of internationally peer-reviewed journals in Political Science, Asian Studies, International Relations and Law across these topics, often as lead author. Focus areas include: policy approaches to non-traditional security in state and institutional contexts; conceptual intersections between traditional and non-traditional security; infectious and pandemic diseases including SARS, H5N1 Bird Flu, COVID 19; and child trafficking and exploitation and relevant international legal frameworks.
  • Governance of civil society in authoritarian states
    The role of civil society under authoritarian rule. How do they navigate relations with the state and advocate for their agenda?
  • Migration and Security
    • Forms of irregular migration and security and their 'securitisation' by the state • Securitisation theory and its application in non-democratic contexts

Research Impacts

In 2015, I was invited to join the Executive Advisory Board of Bravehearts, an Australian not-for profit organisation that aims to educate, empower and protect Australian children from sexual assault.

External recognition of my research and contribution to the field of International Relations is reflected by various (funded) invitations to speak at international and Australian conferences and forums associated with non-traditional security and policy related research.

o Australian Federal Police to speak at International Symposium on Child Sex Tourism in Bangkok in 2012, and Fiji in 2013.

o Nanyang University of Technology, to speak at Symposiums on Irregular Migration in 2012 and 2009.

o University of Western Australia, to speak at Conference on Regional Leadership and Norms: EU and Asia-Pacific Trajectories, 2012.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Nottingham Trent University
  • Bachelor (Honours) of Arts, The University of Queensland

Publications

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Grants

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Supervision

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Available Projects

  • The role of civil society groups in Environmental Governance (Indo-Pacific)

  • Combating Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery in Southeast Asia

    How do states in Southeast Asia combatt trafficking in persons? This research agenda includes the governance of anti-trafficking iniatives within government and the implementation of domestic trafficking laws, in compliance with the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol (2000).

    How are NGOs and other faith-based organisations involved in anti-trafficking initiatives?

    How is trafficking in children and child exploitation related? What are the drivers of child exploitation in Southeast Asia (tourism industry, trafficking for domestic labour and sexual exploitaton) and how can they be reduced and/or eradicated?

View all Available Projects

Publications

Featured Publications

Book

Book Chapter

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Edited Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Dynamic Responses of Southeast Asian States to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • The localization of the right to asylum norm in ASEAN: Assessing ASEAN Response during the Refugee Crisis

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • State Formation and Self-Determination in post-Colonial Africa: The Case of Secessionists Movements in Sudan and Nigeria

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Jihadi Brides, Race, and their Return: Examining Government Responses in the United States (U.S.), Malaysia, and Germany

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

Completed Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • The role of civil society groups in Environmental Governance (Indo-Pacific)

  • Combating Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery in Southeast Asia

    How do states in Southeast Asia combatt trafficking in persons? This research agenda includes the governance of anti-trafficking iniatives within government and the implementation of domestic trafficking laws, in compliance with the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol (2000).

    How are NGOs and other faith-based organisations involved in anti-trafficking initiatives?

    How is trafficking in children and child exploitation related? What are the drivers of child exploitation in Southeast Asia (tourism industry, trafficking for domestic labour and sexual exploitaton) and how can they be reduced and/or eradicated?

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ORCID: 0000-0002-4735-4290

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