Dr Nicole Ryan is a criminologist in the Law School at La Trobe University. She has almost a decade of experience in conducting criminological research and teaching in higher education. Doctor Ryan’s research sits at the interface between several disciplines including, criminology and criminal justice, sociology, critical social policy, rural criminology, social ecology studies, and race, culture and gender studies.

Besides her interest in Indigenous justice issues and reincarceration, Nicole is currently working on two streams of research. First, she is exploring prison visitation in Australia and the impact that visitation has on the visitor, for which she is fast becoming the leading Australian expert on. Second, she is expanding her expertise in reincarceration to focus on the intersection between prison, re-entry and disability with a particular focus on understanding whether NDIS supports can reduce risk of reincarceration for justice involved people living with disability.

Dr Ryan has conducted evaluations of community justice programs and specialised court programs, and empirical research on the risk factors of reincarceration, youth justice conferencing, raising the age of criminal culpability, and public attitudes on sentencing, rehabilitation and reintegration practices. She currently serves as an advisor to Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) Social and Community Connections Reference Group (SCCRG), and Shineforkids Practice, Research, and Advocacy Meeting Group (PRAM).