Associate Professor
Elisabeth Sinnewe
Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Accountancy
Biography
Dr Elisabeth Sinnewe (PhD, MProfAcct, GradCert Academic Practice Australia; Diplom-Betriebswirtin (B.Bus) Germany) joined QUT in 2013 after completing her PhD. Before entering academia, Elisabeth worked in industry in the financial services sector in Germany. She is passionate about building meaningful partnerships across practice, research, and teaching to promote inclusive and environmentally sustainable financial systems.
Her research focuses on:
- Improving Financial literacy and financial education;
- Applying socio-behavioural and psychological lenses to financial decision-making; and
- Utilizing econometrics and textual analysis to study non-financial disclosures and other accountability mechanisms.
She has led and contributed to several industry-funded research projects. Her work is published in high-ranked journals such as the Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Business Strategy and the Environment and Accounting & Finance. Her research paper: “Healthy Financial Habits in Young Adults: An Exploratory Study of the Relationship between Subjective Financial Literacy, engagement with Finances, and Financial Decision-making”, published in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, is among the journal’s Top 10 Cited Papers 2023.
As a committed educator, she has received recognition for her excellence in teaching, including a Best Paper Award for her scholarly work on authentic learning in financial planning. She was also awarded AFHEA (Indigenous Knowledges) for her work on embedding Indigenous perspectives in superannuation and retirement planning.
Dr Sinnewe is the Chair of the Academy of Financial Services Australia–New Zealand Chapter and was recently appointed an Associate Editor of the Financial Services Review.
Dr Sinnewe has supervised PhD and MPhil projects in non-financial reporting, corporate environmental proactivity, integrated reporting, board dynamics and robo-advice. She welcomes inquiries from prospective PhD candidates interested in applied and interdisciplinary research.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Personal details
Positions
- Associate Professor
Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Accountancy
Keywords
personal finance, behavioural finance, environmental accountability, environmental finance, textual analysis, non-financial reporting
Research field
Accounting, auditing and accountability
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- PhD - Accounting & Finance (Southern Cross University)
Professional memberships and associations
Chair, AFS Australia-New Zealand Chapter
Academic Member, Financial Advice Association Australia
Editor, Financial Services Review
Editorial Board, Financial Planning Research Journal
Teaching
Teaching experience:
- Superannuation and Retirement Planning at the undergraduate and postgraduate level;
- Financial Planning Principles and Regulation at the postgraduate level; and
- Financial Plan Construction and Behavioural Client Management at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Elisabeth designed the Financial Planning Principles and Regulation unit to foster a deeper understanding of financial planning concepts. Her teaching approach links industry engagement with evidence-based teaching to offer students real-world insights and to develop their critical thinking ability.
Publications
Research outputs by year
- Sinnewe, E., (2026). Household Financial Decision-Making: Miscalibration, Mortality, Emotion, and Culture. Financial Services Review, 34(1). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/264861
- Sinnewe, E., (2025). Elevating Professional Skills Through Authentic, Scaffolded Learning in a Financial Planning Capstone. Financial Services Review, 33(4), 37–47. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/264859
- Anwar, M., Sinnewe, E. & Quayle, A. (2025). Environmental Disclosure Tone and Analyst Forecast Behaviour: A Study of the EU Nonfinancial Reporting Directive. Accounting and Finance, 65(4), 3574–3604. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/258682
- De Zwaan, L., Grant-Smith, D. & Sinnewe, E. (2025). Adjusting to Australian Personal Finance Systems: Exploring the personal finance experiences of young adults from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/257800
- Rahman, S., Sinnewe, E., Chapple, L. & Osborne, S. (2024). Environment-specific political risk mitigation: Political lobbying versus green innovation. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 51(5-6), 911–942. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/242166
- Sinnewe, E. & Nicholson, G. (2023). Healthy financial habits in young adults: An exploratory study of the relationship between subjective financial literacy, engagement with finances, and financial decision-making. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 57(1), 564–592. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/238849
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Elisabeth, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Filter publications:
A complete list of publications is available at: https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/elisabeth.sinnewe
Supervision
Looking for a postgraduate research supervisor?
I am currently accepting research students for Honours, Masters and PhD study.
You can browse existing student topics offered by QUT or propose your own topic.
Current supervisions
- Investors' Evaluation of Corporate Climate Reporting: The Role of Investors' Climate Literacy by
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Annette Quayle, Professor Ellie Chapple
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
- An analysis of the social dynamics in boardrooms: Chairperson leadership, pluralistic ignorance and demographic faultlines (2023)
- Environmental disclosure tone and analyst forecast behaviour in a regulated environmental reporting setting: A study of the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive (EUNFRD) (2022)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.