Melek Cigdem-Bayram

Ronald Henderson Senior Research Fellow

Melek Cigdem-Bayram is the Ronald Henderson Senior Research Fellow, a joint appointment with the Melbourne Institute and BSL. She is an applied economist who specialises in wealth inequality, intergenerational wealth transfers, poverty and disadvantage, housing and homelessness, and spatial analysis. Before her appointment in 2024, Melek was a Senior Researcher at the University of Sydney, Economic Advisor and Analyst at Jesuit Social Services and Research Fellow at RMIT University, where she is an honorary associate. 

Melek is a lead on the project Defining and Measuring Poverty in Australia, which aims to develop an agreed-upon definition of poverty in Australia. This project is a collaboration between with the Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic and Social Research and the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

Contact melek.cigdem-bayram@bsl.org.au