Dr Yvette Maker

Yvette Maker is a Senior Research Associate in the Melbourne Social Equity Institute. She has a background in law and social policy and her current work focuses on the disability- and gender-related dimensions of law, policy and practice. She has a particular interest in the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the impacts of Australian social policy (particularly income support policy) on women and persons with disabilities and the role of law and policy in the provision of support and/or care for children, persons with disabilities and older people.

Yvette is currently engaged in research to develop support for people with decision-making impairments to engage in consumer transactions for essential services, and research to reduce, with a view to eliminating, the use of various forms of restraint on persons with disabilities in the mental health, disability and aged care sectors. Prior to her current role, Yvette worked in research, investigation and policy roles in non-profit and government bodies, including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

She has also provided research support to the Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on topics including the right to education and the right to liberty and security of the person. Yvette was the Hallmark Disability Research Initiative’s Research Fellow from 2015 to 2017, and has been a lecturer and supervisor in the Disability Human Rights Clinic at Melbourne Law School since its inaugural semester in 2015.