Staff Profiles

Prof. Robert Cummins
Position	Personal Chair
Email	robert.cummins@deakin.edu.au
Area	School of Psychology
Phone	+61 3 924 46845
Campus	Burwood
Role and Profile	Professor Cummins holds a Personal Chair in Psychology. He mainly teaches at Post-Graduate level, is an active researcher and supervises higher degree students.
Teaching Responsibilities	Unit Chair for: HPS978 – Biological and Neuropsychological Perspective on Disorder Melbourne campus at Burwood, Coordinator – Colloquia Program
Research Interests	Quality of life Subjective well-being Happiness and satisfaction
Service to the University, discipline or community	International Society for Quality of Life Studies 2006-2008: President Elect Australian Centre on Quality of Life 2000- : Convenor International Wellbeing Group 2002- : Founding co-ordinator Faculty Ethics Committee 2007 : Deputy and Acting Chair Faculty Board 2000- : Member
Awards	2004: Best paper published in Social Indicators Research in 2003 (Cummins, R.A., Eckersley, R., Pallant, J., Van Vugt, J. & Misajon, R.) awarded by the International Society for Quality of Life Studies. 2004: Faculty Academic of the Year Award, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences. Awarded by the Deakin University Student Association. 2004: Victorian Public Health Award for Capacity Building Excellence (Cummins, R.A., Davern, M., Hunter, B. James, A.M., Okerstrom, E., McMillan, D., Eckersley, R. & Lo, S.K.). Awarded by the Victorian Department of Human Services. 2005: Designated ‘Expert of International Standing in Quality of Life Research’ by the Australian Research Council College of Experts. 2006: Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer.
Memberships	Australian Association for Social Research Australian Association for Cognitive and Behavior Therapy Australian Evaluation Society Australian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability International Society for Quality of Life Studies International Sociological Association Italian Group on Quality of life (International Honorary Member)
Conferences	Cummins, R.A. (2006). The wellbeing of Families. Invited paper, National Population and Family Development Board, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, April. Cummins, R.A. (2006). The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index. Invited paper, National Health Research Institute in Taiwan, Melbourne, July. Cummins, R.A. (2006). Uniquely Down-Under: The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index. Plenary address, 6th Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, Grahamstown, South Africa, July. Cummins, R.A. (2006). Why HRQOL is not QOL: Theory, data, and the FDA. Plenary address, Health Outcomes Conference, Canberra, August. Cummins, R.A. (2006). Measuring the subjective wellbeing of Australia: Six years of data. Plenary address, International Symposium on the Well-Being of Nations, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan, November.
Publications	Cummins, R.A. (2005). Moving from the Quality of Life Concept to a theory. In R. Schalock (Ed.). Journal of Intellectual Disability Research – Special Issue on Quality of Life, 49, 699-706. Cummins, R.A. (2005). Issues in the systematic assessment of quality of life. In: J. Hogg & A. Langa (Eds.), Approaches to the assessment of adults with intellectual disability: A service provider’s guide (pp. 9-22). London: Blackwell Publishing. Cummins, R.A., & Lau, A.L.D. (2006). Using health and subjective wellbeing for quality of life measurement: A review. In: L. Bauld, K Clarke & T Maltby (Eds.), Social Policy Review 18 (pp. 165-192). Bristol: Policy Press. Davern, M., & Cummins, R.A. (2006). Is life dissatisfaction the opposite of life satisfaction? Australian Journal of Psychology, 58(1), 1-7. Tiliouine, H., Cummins, R.A., & Davern, M. (2006). Measuring Wellbeing in Developing Countries: The Case of Algeria. Social Indicators Research, 75, 1-30. Professor Cummins has collaborated to produce a large number of tests, indexes and reports for Australian Unity. They can be viewed by following the links: TESTS http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/acqol/instruments/wellbeing_index.htm INDEXES http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/acqol/instruments/wellbeing_index.htm AUSTRALIAN UNITY REPORTS http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/acqol/index_wellbeing/index.htm
Research Link	View Deakin Associated Research Data
Biography	View Biography as a pdf ( 149K - opens in a new Window)
Highest Qualification	Doctor of Philosophy University of Western Australia Completed: 01-MAY-79

Back to List