Dr Ken Pidd

Deputy Director, Research - NCETA
August 2015
Dr Ken Pidd has been employed in the AOD field for more than 15 years. Prior to this, Ken was employed in a diverse range of roles, primarily in the construction industry, and managed a workplace alcohol and drug safety and rehabilitation program for the South Australian Construction Industry. Ken's main area of research focuses on understanding the extent and nature of work related alcohol and drug use and the implications for policy and practice. His PhD examined the nature of alcohol and drug use and related harm among adolescent apprentices, and Ken has a particular research interest in the wellbeing of young workers and the role the workplace can play in shaping long term health and safety behaviours.

This weekend I will...

I have had the past few weeks off on carer’s leave, so I will probably spend most of this weekend catching up on work tasks. I am actually looking forward to it, which is a bit sad….

I wish I’d never...

I wish I had never ignored the advice my father gave me in the late 1970’s about the importance of investing in real estate for the long term.

I’d originally planned to work...

I originally planned to have a career in the military. I enlisted in the Navy when I was a teenager, with dreams of travelling the world on the high seas. After 3 years at a land-based naval apprentice training establishment, the closest I had got to going to sea was rowing an old whaler around Snapper Island (Sydney Harbour) as part of a training exercise. By this time I realised Navy life was not for me.

The qualities I most value in my colleagues are...

Their professionalism and commitment to the work we do and the way they genuinely care for each other.

I’ll never forget...

Flying from Sydney to Adelaide in 1999 and discovering the plane’s First Officer was a long lost friend who had realised his dream of becoming a Qantas pilot. Years earlier we had worked together in the construction industry. He invited me to join him up front for a catch up and I was still there as the plane landed in Adelaide. Seeing a lit up runaway at night from the flight deck of a Boeing 747 as it lands is an experience I’ll never forget and probably never get to do again, given the tightened airline security since September 11, 2001.  

If I had more time, I’d...

If I had more time, I'd travel a lot more and learn to play a musical instrument.

I’m most scared of...

My daughter Stephanie suffers from a genetic disability that limits her life expectancy. Her twin sister Jessica passed away from the condition in 2009 at the age of 17, so I guess I am most scared of facing the day that I also lose her.

For my next holiday...

My daughter is a Disneyland tragic so our next holiday will be 4 weeks in the US where we will spend a week at Disneyland in LA and a week on a Disney cruise. We have been to Disneyland several times before and I think I have more fun than her (but don’t tell her that).

I can’t get enough of...

Spending time with my grandchildren. I have 5 beautiful granddaughters all under the age of 10, but they live in two different states so I don’t get the chance to spend much time with them.

I’m really terrible at...

Being organised and tidy, as anyone who has seen my desk at work will know, and not being able to say no.

My big hope for the drug and alcohol sector is...

That we become the international leader in evidence-based policy and practice. I think Australia has a good reputation in this area already, but I think a lot more can be done.

The sector’s biggest challenge going forward is...

The sector’s biggest challenge going forward is lack of secure, long term funding and the threat of politically driven, rather than evidence-based alcohol and drug policy. 

Career wise, I’m most proud of...

Career wise, I’m most proud of two things. The first is being awarded my PhD. After many years of working as an electrician in the mining and construction industries, gaining a PhD and working as a researcher in the alcohol and drug sector was probably the most satisfying and rewarding career decisions I have ever made. The second is being invited to be the Patron of Foundation House, a Sydney based not-for-profit alcohol and drug rehabilitation service for construction workers.