Claire Holland

Dr Claire Holland is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, and a leading Australian scholar in conflict management and dispute resolution. A pracademic in the truest sense, she brings together doctoral-level research expertise, 15 years of university teaching and program leadership, and sustained practitioner experience across mediation, conflict coaching, evaluation, and capacity development in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr Holland is the former Director and Senior Lecturer of the Conflict Management and Resolution Program at James Cook University, which was Australia's top-ranked postgraduate program in the field. She led curriculum design, quality assurance, and staff development across AQF 8 and AQF 9 programs, as well as designing and delivering subjects into the Bachelor of Law program (AQF 7). She holds a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws, Master of Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Graduate Certificate in Education (Academic Practice) and was awarded the Dean's Award for Higher Degree by Research Excellence (2025) for her doctoral thesis (PhD), Measuring Mental Health and Wellbeing of Law Students at James Cook University. Dr Holland examined using hope and psychological distress as measures of mental health and wellbeing of law students. She developed an original framework, definition, and model to support law student wellbeing. She is co-author of Conflict Management: Theory and Practice (7th edition, LexisNexis, 2025), a leading practitioner and academic text in the field. Dr Holland is co-editor of the Dispute Resolution Review academic journal (Bond University) and an active member of the Australian Dispute Resolution Research Network. 

In collaboration with Dr Judith Herrmann-Rafferty, Dr Holland has co-developed two original analytical frameworks: the Holland & Herrmann-Rafferty Conflict Analysis Framework, a structured tool for diagnosing conflict dynamics, stakeholder relationships, and drivers of protracted disputes in complex, multi-party, and cross cultural contexts; and the Herrmann-Rafferty & Holland Planned Approach to Conflict Engagement (PACE) Framework, a practitioner-facing model for systematically considering  conflict engagement, managing escalation, and designing structured interventions. Both frameworks have been presented at international peacebuilding and dispute resolution forums and are applied in professional practitioner contexts and Masters-level teaching. 

Dr Holland's current research spans four intersecting areas: conflict management and resolution; organisational leadership and capacity development; monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) in humanitarian and development contexts; and the emerging field of sovereign citizen and pseudolaw engagement. Her sovereign citizen research, conducted in collaboration with Pascale Taplin, has attracted significant practitioner and judicial attention, with the article 'The sovereign citizen superconspiracy: Contemporary issues in native title anthropology' (The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 2023) ranking in the top 10% of most viewed papers published by the journal and cited in the Handbook for Judicial Officers in NSW. A book chapter 'Conspiracy and Consent: Working in Native Title with Sovereign Citizen and Pseudolaw Adherents' extends this work into forensic anthropology practice.

Beyond her academic roles, Dr Holland consults in the humanitarian and international development sector, including as a MEAL Advisor and Mentor in Papua New Guinea, where she works with national and field-level teams on evaluation systems, accountability, and evidence-based learning. She has held previous roles as a Mediation Specialist, developing dispute system design and mediation systems in refugee camps on the Thailand-Myanmar border, and as a Capacity Development Officer, delivering training and mentoring to leaders in rural and remote communities in the Philippines. 

Dr Holland holds concurrent roles as a Senior Associate with the Babelfish Group (a leadership and organisational development consultancy), and as a Senior Trainer and Coach Mentor with the Conflict Management Academy. She is a Nationally Accredited Advanced Mediator (AMDRAS), an Accredited Conflict Coach (Conflict Coaching International), and an experienced trainer and facilitator across government, health, education, NGO, and corporate sectors.