Kate Kirby

Dr Kate Kirby is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Law and Society at UniSC, where she teaches across Arts and Humanities disciplines, including history and sociology. She is passionate about creating engaging learning experiences that foster students' critical thinking alongside their digital, information, and data literacy. In addition to a BA in History (UQ) and a PhD in History (UniSC), Kate is a qualified librarian with a Master of Information Technology, bringing an interdisciplinary perspective to both her teaching and research.

Kate's research specialises in sport history, sport heritage, regional history, collective memory, and digital humanities. Using archival research methods, microhistory and prosopography, her digital humanities research has been presented at national conferences hosted by the Australian Historical Association (AHA), the International Australian Studies Association (InASA), and the Australian Women's and Gender Studies Association (AWGSA). She also communicates her research through Non-Traditional Research Outputs (NTROs), collaborative public history projects, and a monthly segment on ABC Sunshine Coast radio.

Her doctoral research examined the development of high-performance sport in regional and rural Queensland, investigating the experiences of athletes, coaches, and referees across six local government areas. By identifying the macro-, meso-, and micro-level factors that contributed to sustained sporting success, her research provides new insights into regional athlete pathways, internal migration associated with elite sporting careers, and the heritage and legacy of high-performance sport. These findings have implications for sport policy, regional development, and community heritage. Her current research continues to explore sport history and heritage through collaborative projects with community and government partners, focusing on documenting, preserving, and sharing local sporting histories.

Kate has held several prestigious research fellowships and residencies, including Queensland Heritage Register Fellow at the State Library of Queensland (2025), Historian in Residence for Sunshine Coast Council (2025), Carol Moya Mills Scholar at the National Library of Australia (2023), and inaugural Historian in Residence for Sunshine Coast Council (2022). She also serves as Social Media Editor for History Australia, the journal of the Australian Historical Association (2025–present).