UTS Chancellor's Research Fellow Dr Archie Thomas from the Faculty of Design and Society is examining how people actively transform institutions over time, with a focus on schools and media.
Rethinking school exclusion
“I’ve worked primarily with Indigenous people as a non-Indigenous researcher and drawn on my own experience within queer and trans communities, looking at the ways that people themselves have worked to transform institutions over time, from within and outside of them,” he said.
Archie’s research highlights the often overlooked legacy, work and vision of challenging institutions to better meet their needs, and considers what we can learn from this today.
One of Archie’s current projects centres on school exclusion and what is often referred to as the “school–prison nexus”, meaning the range of systemic policies and practices that push marginalised students out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system. It highlights how punitive disciplinary measures criminalise distress and student behaviour instead of addressing its root causes.
There is no evidence to show exclusionary practices such as suspension improve behaviour or make schools safer.
This project builds on Archie’s doctoral research including with the Indigenous-controlled Yipirinya School in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, where he explored the under-recognised history of Indigenous-controlled education in Australia. One key finding was the disproportionately high rates of expulsion experienced by Indigenous students.
Archie and a team of researchers partnered with the National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition (NIYEC) to develop a school exclusion report.
“It's the biggest study ever conducted of school exclusion historically in Australia. We looked at school exclusion from colonisation until today and found that a lot of today’s practices of school exclusion have persisted over long periods of time.”
Despite having a strong policy focus on inclusion, suspension rates in NSW are among the highest in the world and rapidly escalating, with 1 in 10 students in the NSW schooling system suspended in 2024, and 1 in 4 over the last 10 years.
“However, there is no evidence to show exclusionary practices such as suspension improve behaviour or make schools safer,” Archie said.
International approaches to school exclusion
In 2025, Archie and Dr Samara Hand from UNSW were awarded a policy fellowship with Australian Public Policy Institute (APPI). Together they extended this work by examining international approaches to reducing school exclusion, learning from educators and communities to identify alternatives.
“In Chicago, for example, dramatically reducing school suspensions meant trying to change the culture of the school itself. This meant looking at embedding restorative approaches to addressing conflict and distress, to consider issues before they happen, rather than reactive solutions,” said Archie. The research found that this approach tended to be more effective than policy changes that happen without resourcing.
“In schools in Scotland, they've all but eliminated formal school exclusion from their public schools. Part of their success has been bringing all policy stakeholders together in the process of policymaking around school exclusion. If you look at the discourse in NSW, you tend to have the arguments about the teachers on one side and the arguments about the students on the other side—we think that bridging that divide is necessary for change.”
These case studies demonstrate that meaningful change can be possible when schools focus on early intervention, shift school culture and involve all stakeholders in decision-making processes.
Sharing research findings to address students’ rights
Arising from this research, Archie and his collaborators have developed a fact sheets and resources for students, and consulted with government departments, policymakers and stakeholders.
Looking forward, Archie is commencing a larger study exploring how exclusion rates have risen drastically at a time that schools are focused on prioritising inclusion. He will investigate how policy, practices and discourses have shifted, and work with community experts to consider ways to reduce school exclusion and promote justice.