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Deakin Sport, Movement and Leisure Lab
Exploring the social, cultural, historical and pedagogical dimensions of sport, movement and leisure
How our research shapes sport in society
The Deakin Sport, Movement and Leisure Lab brings together researchers across all three schools within Deakin's Faculty of Arts and Education. We apply critical, interdisciplinary approaches to investigate how sport, physical activity, exercise, dance, leisure and recreation shape, and are shaped by, contemporary societies.
Our work builds on Deakin's leadership in sport research by focusing on the sociocultural, educative, communicative, historical and embodied dimensions of sport, physical activity and movement. We explore how sport, movement and leisure can drive transformative change across diverse contexts, including schools, community groups, media, government and organisational settings.
Our research themes
The Sport, Movement and Leisure Lab focuses on enhancing knowledge and understanding across four research themes.
Equity and inclusion
We examine how gender, sexuality, race, class, disability and other social categories are produced, contested and lived in sport, movement and leisure activities. Our research spans women's sport, intersectionality and inclusion in organised sport, masculinities in contact sport, sport media, fandom, fitness and dance cultures.
Sport history, narrative and memory
We study how sport's past and present are researched, narrated and mobilised, from professional leagues to the rituals, traditions and stories that organise sporting publics. Our strengths include Australian sport history, the legal and cultural history of professional sport, sports literature, journalism and digital media platforms and communities.
Sport governance, industry and policy
We critically interrogate how sporting industries, regulators and policies shape participation, work and safety in sport. Our work covers professional sport governance, respectful relationships in sport, online harms, physical education policy, the women's sport industry, and sport stadiums as sites of identity formation and regulation.
Movement, embodiment, learning and pedagogy
We study the body in motion: dance, play, physical education and immersive media contexts. We investigate the pedagogies through which movement is taught and learned across the lifespan, with emphasis on designing inclusive, socially-just movement experiences and understanding the embodied processes through which learning happens.
Study with us
Are you interested in how sport, movement and leisure shape society? When you undertake a research degree at Deakin, you’ll work alongside leading experts to make an impact in areas like sport sociology, sport history, dance and movement, health and physical education, sport media and sport policy.
Sport shapes identity, community and culture. Our Lab brings critical insights to why sport matters and its wide-ranging impacts on society.
Director of the Sport, Movement and Leisure Lab
Our team
Our researchers work across the three schools within the Faculty of Arts and Education and are globally recognised for their expertise across various fields.
Associate Professor Kim Toffoletti is a sociologist with more than 20 years experience and the director of the Deakin Sport, Movement and Leisure Lab. Kim’s research specialisms include gender, media and sport, women's sport fandom, online safety for women athletes and anti-racism in community sport.
Dr Kasey Symons is the co-deputy director of the Deakin Sport, Movement and Leisure Lab. Kasey's research focuses on women in sport, sport media and journalism, sport literature and creative writing, sport fandom and the women's sport industry.
Associate Professor Trent Brown is the co-deputy director of the Deakin Sport, Movement and Leisure Lab. Trent's research explores health and physical education curriculum and pedagogy, and senior-secondary physical education, with an emphasis on inclusive movement-based experiences.
School of Humanities and Social Science:
Associate Professor Ian Warren
School of Communication and Creative Arts:
Associate Professor Cameron Bishop
Associate Professor Jessamy Gleeson
Dr Shaun McLeod
Associate Professor Olivia Millard
Associate Professor Kristine Moruzi
Associate Professor Christopher Scanlon
School of Education:
Associate Professor Debbie Ollis
Dr Kim Davies
Featured projects
Our research projects are socially engaged, characterised by innovative and impactful collaborations with industry, government, academia and community organisations.
ABC Elite Athletes in Australian Women's Sport Survey
In partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, this project is the first of its kind in Australia to examine the lived experiences of elite women athletes across many aspects of their careers such as renumeration, coaching, wellbeing, resourcing, reproductive health and media coverage.
Flapper Said: Exploring the Future of Conversational AI
Led by Dr Russell Kennedy, this exhibition for Melbourne Design Week 2026, brings legendary Collingwood Football Club Player Les Hughes (nicknamed Flapper) into the present through AI.
Our partnerships
We partner with academic, industry, government and community organisations in Australia and internationally to improve representation, participation, safety, diversity and equity across sport, leisure and active recreation.
Our featured publications
Explore a selection of recent flagship publications showcasing the breadth and impact of our researchers’ work. For a complete list of publications, visit our researchers’ profile pages.
- Muscularity and femininity: No longer a contradiction?, B. Desjardins
- Line and length: A history of the Geelong Cricket Club, T. Joel and M. Turner. Winner, Australian Society for Sports History Book Award 2025.
- Reimagining Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility within Health and Physical Education curriculum: The socially-just approach, D. Scanlon, K. Baker and M. Coulter
- Not just trolls: The experiences and effects of online harm on elite women's sport athletes, K. Toffoletti, C. McGrane and S. Reddan
- Academic and associational life in Australian health and physical education: a collaborative autobiographical narrative inquiry of/as knotting, B. Williams and T. D. Brown
- Women’s Football in Oceania, L. McGowan, K. Symons, and Y Kanemasu
Contact us
Email Associate Professor Kim Toffoletti
