Dr Stephen Wilks

BEc Hons (Monash), PhD (ANU)
Academic Research Editor, National Centre of Biography, School of History
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
T: 02 6125 2349

Areas of expertise

  • Australian History (Excl. Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander History) 210303

Research interests

Biography, especially political biography; ideas about Australian national development

Biography

Stephen Wilks is based in the National Centre of Biography, School of History. He is a research fellow and editor for the Australian Dictionary of Biography and the Dictionary of the House of Representatives project. 

He holds a 2018 doctorate in Australian history from the ANU about national economic and social development in the twentieth century, focussed on the career of Earle Page. From 1982 to 2018 he had a varied career in the Commonwealth Government, including in AusAID, the Departments of Infrastructure, Regional Australia, Innovation, Immigration, Trade and Foreign Affairs, and at Australian overseas missions in Jakarta and Hong Kong.

He has contributed over seventy book reviews and articles to Fairfax Media and other publishers, mainly on modern Australian, British and United States history and biography. He has published a book and several articles on Earle Page and his ideas, such as for the Australian Policy and History network. He twice won the ACT Writers Centre Reviewer of the Year Award, for which he subsequently served as judge.

 

Researcher's projects

Stephen has published with ANU Press a book on Earle Page and his ideas about national development, dealing with many important strands in Australian history including federalism, decentralisation, regionalism, economic planning, electrification and higher education. He also co-ordinated the Dictionary of the House of Representatives project, leading to the publication in 2023 of his edited Order, Order!’: A Biographical Dictionary of Speakers, Deputy Speakers and Clerks of the Australian House of Representatives. He has been a co-editor of the Australian Journal of Biography and History. Currently, he is researching Victorian politics in the Bolte era.

Publications

Return to top

Updated:  29 March 2024 / Responsible Officer:  Director (Research Services Division) / Page Contact:  Researchers