Dr Kath O'Brien
Faculty of Health,
School of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences
Biography
Dr. Katherine (Kath) O’Brien is an expert in the operational environment and working practices of sport officials. Kath’s research interests cover a range of topics related to operating in high performance sport, but most notably focus upon understanding the qualities that foster the work and development of sport officials. Aiming to create deeper discussion and research around sport officials, Kath created the Australian Sport Officiating Summit (ASOS) hosted online at QUT. Kath is founder and coordinator of the QUT Women in Sport Leadership Conference in partnership with QUT Sport. Dr. O'Brien was awarded the 2020 Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence, winning the prestigious David Gardiner 'Teacher of the Year'. Kath teaches post-graduate and undergraduate students in the disciplines of exercise science, sport coaching, and education, is a registered HPE teacher, and previous international coach for both men’s and women’s teams in the sport of Touch Football.
Personal details
Positions
- Lecturer
Faculty of Health,
School of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences
Keywords
Sport Officiating, High Performance, Learning, Pedagogy, Education
Discipline
Human Movement and Sports Science
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD (University of Queensland)
Professional memberships and associations
- Sport Australia - Industry Advisory Group - Officiating
- Sport Australia - Coach & Officiating Steering Committee
- The Officiating Collective - Lead Researcher
- Creator and organiser - The Australian Sport Officiating Summit (ASOS)
- Founder - QUT Women in Leadership Conference (partnership with QUTSport)
Teaching
Current Teaching:
- Lecturer - Faculty of Health (School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences)
- Senior Fellow - Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Unit Coordinator - XNB299; XNB390; EUB420; EUB107
- Courses - XNB174; XNB188; XNB296
- Chairperson / Panel Member - QTPA
Previous Employment and Teaching:
- Casual Academic - University of Queensland (Post-graduate Master of Coaching)
- Casual Academic and Unit Coordinator - University of New England (UNE)
- Head of Department (HOD) - HPE and Sport
- Acting Deputy Principal
- Secondary Teacher - HPE, Chemistry, Biological Science, Sport & Fitness, Dance
- Board Member - Touch Football Queensland
- Executive Officer - Queensland Touch (SWQ)
Experience
- Australian Coach - Men's & Women's Teams - Touch Football
- Chair - Touch Football Queensland Coaching Panel
- Member - Touch Football Australia Coaching Panel
- Member - Womensport Toowoomba Panel
Publications
- O'Brien K, Rynne S, (2021) Seen but not heard: Missing the mark in conceptualizing high performance officiating, Sport in Society, 24 (7) p1110
- Grey M, Mallett C, O'Brien K, Rynne S, (2020) High-performance coaches. In D Hackfort & R Schinke, The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Sport and Exercise Psychology: Volume 2: Applied and Practical Measures, Routledge p343
- O'Brien K, (2020) Two refs are better than one, so why does the NRL want to drop one?, The Conversation p
- O'Brien K, (2018) Blow that whistle: Seven reasons you should respect the ref in the NRL Grand Final, The Conversation p
- O'Brien K, (2016) Split second decisions with little praise: So what does it take to ref a game of NRL, The Conversation p
- O'Brien K, (2015) NRL video refs can still make the call even if they're not at the game, The Conversation p
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Kath, explore their research on ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- QUT Vice-Chancellor Award for Excellence: David Gardiner Teacher of the Year
- Type
- Fellowship of a Learned Academy or Membership of AIATSIS
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Senior Fellowship: Higher Education (SFHEA)
- Type
- Advisor/Consultant for Industry
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Consultant: Sport Australia on Sport Officiating Learning & Education
- Type
- Reviewer for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Sport, Education and Society
- Type
- Reviewer for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- International Journal of Sport Science and Coaching
- Type
- Funding Award
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- UQ: Dr Alf Howard International Travel Scholarship
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2014
- Details
- Deans Commendation for Academic Excellence