Conversation With…Shelley Walker

In each Connections, we ask someone from the alcohol and other drug sector to share a little about their work and life. Introducing DECRA recipient Dr Shelley Walker.

This weekend I will...

I’ve just got back from two conferences – Contemporary Drug Problems in Manchester and the European Society of Criminology conference in Athens – so I’m actually going to take it easy. And one of my son’s footy teams has made finals so I’m going to cheer them on and walk the dog, so pretty low key.

I'll never forget...

Travelling down the Amazon River in Brazil for four days back in the 1990s. I went from Belém to Manaus on a little boat that the local river communities people used. Everyone bought a hammock at the port and then you strung the hammock up on this open-sided deck, and that was your only private space for the duration of the journey. It was during wet season and at one point I remember the river being so wide, you couldn’t see the horizon in any direction – it felt like we were at sea.

If I had more time, I'd...

Finish the mosaic bird bath that I started working on in the garden last summer, and I would paint the table on our deck using the Indian inlay stencils one of the boys gave me for Christmas. I really love doing creative stuff with my hands –  drawing, gardening – it gives me a different kind of energy than my everyday work at the desk.

I'm most scared of...  

Public speaking. I’ve had to do plenty of public speaking over the years, but I’m still petrified and get really nervous every time.

For my next holiday...

We’ll be going camping at the beach in Torquay in our old camper trailer. It’s the kind you don’t see much anymore, with the big canvas tent and an outdoor kitchen. I do love camping. I love that I’m forced not to do much at all, except relax and think about what we’re going to have for dinner.

I can't get enough of...

Pancakes. Any kind. With butter, lemon, and sugar, with golden syrup, or with ice cream and strawberries. I’d eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Yep – clearly I love pancakes!

I'm really terrible at...

Lots of things, but remembering where I’ve put things is a biggie. I'm always losing my glasses and my phone. I was looking for my glasses on the plane home. I had the people in the seats behind and next to me looking under their seats and in all the places they possibly could be, and then the person next to me said ‘Shelley, they’re on your head’.

I'd originally planned to…

Do a PhD in Siem Reap in Cambodia, where I was working with an NGO who was supporting teenage boys in prison. I wanted to evaluate the program to help them get funding to expand into more prisons. But then we came home after 18 months and an opportunity came up with NDRI to do a similar thing here in Victoria, and it’s that study that led to the work I’m doing now, a decade later, focused on young people in police custody.

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

Integrity, honesty, and a genuine desire to make a positive difference in the lives of disadvantaged people in our community. I feel lucky that I get to work alongside people who have those qualities, which is what makes my work so meaningful and enjoyable.

My goal for 2026 is...

To complete the interviews I have planned for my DECRA project focused on young people and police custody – including interviews with young people who’ve had experiences of police custody and those who’ve visited them and worked in police custody. And by the end of 2026, I hope to have started developing some practical recommendations for policymakers and others to make sure young people feel safe and looked after while they’re detained.

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

Funding and resourcing. Research is really important to understand the impact on affected people and to allow their voices to be heard and to be part of the decision-making process. But we need funding to do the research to have their voices heard, and to involve them in the process of developing policy.

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

That we’re moving closer to a place where drug use is considered a health issue as opposed to a criminal one because, as we know, criminalising drug use causes so much unnecessary harm. Criminalisation entrenches stigma, and locks people in cycles of disadvantage and trauma, and often makes the problems we’re trying to solve so much worse.

My hope is that we can get to a place where how we respond to drug use as a society is grounded in compassion, evidence and human rights so that people who use drugs are treated with dignity and respect.

Click here to find out more about Dr Shelley Walker’s research.

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