The UWA Public Policy Institute has appointed Associate Professor Paul J. Maginn as its new Interim Director.

"One of the aims of the PPI is to shine a light on contemporary and emerging policy issues within WA, Australia and internationally via informed discussions and research."

Associate Professor Paul J Maginn

Associate Professor Maginn, one of PPI’s Academic Fellows, has an excellent understanding of the Institute’s mission and brings a wealth of expertise and ideas to the role.

Associate Professor Maginn is an urban planner/geographer and has been at UWA since February 2007. He previously held positions at the University of South Australia and Edith Cowan University, having migrated to Australia in 2003.

Image: Associate Professor Paul J Maginn.

After completing a PhD in urban policy and development at London South Bank University, Associate Professor Maginn completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Ulster (Coleraine) and Queen’s University of Belfast.

He was the inaugural program co-ordinator of the BSc and Masters of Urban and Regional Planning degrees at UWA from 2007-2020 and is currently the co-ordinator of the Administration and Governance stream of the Masters of Public Policy at UWA.

“I am excited to take up the Interim Directorship of the UWA Public Policy and working with the Advisory Board, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) other UWA-based research Institutes and the wider academic community to help showcase the strengths and diversity of policy-related research here at UWA,” Associate Professor Maginn said.

“Public policy has implications and impacts on every aspect of our lives.

“One of the aims of the PPI is to shine a light on contemporary and emerging policy issues within WA, Australia and internationally via informed discussions and research.

“I look forward to strengthening existing relationships, established by the inaugural Director of the Institute Professor Shamit Saggar, and building new links and collaborations with policy institutions and actors across, academia, government, the NGO sector, and the private sector in Australia and internationally, particularly within the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific region.”

Associate Professor Maginn’s latest book, Suburbia in the 21st Century: From Dreamscape to Nightmare?, which he co-edited with Professor Katrin Anacker (George Mason University, USA) was published in 2022 by Routledge. He recently co-guest edited, with Professor Nick Phelps (University of Melbourne), a special issue on global suburbanisms in the international journal Built Environment.

Associate Professor Maginn has been Editor-in-Chief of Urban Policy and Research since 2015 and was a member of the International Advisory Board of Policy & Politics (2014-2019). He was Co-Convenor of the Australasian Cities Research Network (ACRN) from 2017-2021 and remains a member of the ACRN committee. The ACRN convenes the biennial State of Australasian Cities Conference, which was held in Perth in 2009 and 2019 and co-chaired by Associate Professor Maginn.